The Leaf Angel Trilogy: Part II Spirit Warrior
by xUnicornsRulex
Summary: True Heart Sequel.Nariko's life is turned upside down once again when starnge dream haunt her every living moment. To save those she loves, she must sacrifice everything and embrace the path of a spirit warrior or watch the world burn. ON BREAK
1. More than Dreams

I was suffocating; but not in water. The fighting spirit within me fought to stay alive, even though the poisonous atmosphere was burning my lungs with such intensity that I thought a nuclear reaction was happening inside my body, slowly melting me from the inside. All around me black smoke was raising high above the burning buildings, blocking out the summer sun that brought life into this world. Ash burned my skin as I ran through the village – trying to see through the engulfing smoke that surrounded me. Every now and again I would hear the screams of dying men, women and children. Covering my ears, I tried to block out the deafening sounds that seemed to bounce around from wall to wall inside my head because I knew I had my own personal mission to accomplish, so I kept fighting and ignored the suffering cries that pleaded for help. I was looking for something ... or someone; I wasn't sure. All I near was I needed to find them and fast. Then a thought came to my head as I changed direction to find the place I knew was mine and my friend's favourite place, I knew it was a stupid place to check but I was desperate. Suddenly, I felt myself flying through the air and slammed back onto the ground. Pushing myself up I rubbed away the blood that was dripping in front of my eyes for a spilt in my head and tried to take off again but tripped over something. Cursing my clumsiness, I looked up to see the ramen shop sign I had been looking for. I crawled back on to my knees but froze when something cool and slimy soaked into my hands. I slowly lifted up my heads to find thick blood slowly slipping down my skin. Despite my instincts telling my not to look I peeped around my hands to see the bloody mess of civilians and shinobi covering the street ahead of me. I screamed and shouted at my body to get up and search for survivors but a small dark shape in the distance caught my attention and made me freeze in fear. The small figure began to grow bigger and bigger as it hurled its way towards my frozen body.

"Hungry." It moaned, finally close enough for me to see it grabbing the dead bodies and devouring them, as it greedily stuffed the limb figures into its mouth. "HUNGRY!" It shirked at the top of its voice before launching itself at me.

I screamed, launching myself forward and off the bed. Coco began to protest to being flung off the bed again but I was too busy trying to calm myself down to notice. Damn it! I cried, as I pulled myself back on to the bed and slammed my angry fist into the closet pillow I could reach. That was the fifth time this week; almost double from last week. The next thing I knew the door swung open and Kakashi with eight nin-dogs came racing into the room; ready for battle.

"Nariko! Are you ok?" He questioned, placing himself beside me. Even though it was the middle of the night, his silver hair still stood out among the darkness. Shrugging his comforting hand off my shoulder, I pulled the covers high up to my neck and lay on my side, so I was facing towards the window.

"I'm fine, just a dream." I mumbled from beneath the blanket; fighting with dad was the last thing I wanted to do. Hearing my father messy his – already untidy-hair and letting out another heavy sigh. He muttered a goodnight before dad and the dogs (except Coco) left the room, leaving the room in utter silence. The only movement in the room was from Coco jumping back on to the old bed and making himself comfortable again. I didn't know what to do but for the past three weeks I was waking up screaming and then dad would come in to the room, thinking an intruder had entered the room. The first week was the worst. Dad and I would just argue about all the time, threatening to tell Ibiki about it since I was still receiving counselling from my last experience; being captured by Danzo, tortured and then brain washed into beating the crap out of everyone. I rolled back over and stared back into space. Despite naming this my room I hadn't done much to make it homey. Except for the clothes that hang in the wardrobe and the only thing to show this was someone's room were the scattered photographs on the desk. I was trying to decide which photo's I should stick to the walls – thankfully Nene was coming over tomorrow to help sought them out. I hope these dreams end soon; otherwise I'm going to wake up one day and find the wicked witch staring back at me in the mirror. Slowly, after what seemed like hours of counting sheep, I finally fell back to sleep.

"Wake up sleepy head!" Hamako cried out when she and the others dive on top of me. I made a series of curses, threats and moans but as usual the little children did not pay much attention at all; since they probably had no idea what half the things I said meant. "Come on lazy butt, we're got school in half an hour." The young girl whined, grabbing me by the ankles and attempted to pull me off the bed. However, using a little bit of charka I was able to twist the idea of the wall climbing technique around to my advantage so I was now stuck to the bed. But this only caused the other young children (some of them nearly Genins now) to join in the battle and try to yank me out of bed.

"Leave me alone you evil little people!" I moaned, pulling the covers over my head, as three girls, the twins, plus Jiraiya all began pulling on my legs.

"Right that's it; I'm bringing in the cavalry." Jiraiya cried out before walking out of the room. Since I was still half a sleep my brain did not function his words properly; until it was too late. When I felt the little hands leave I thought they had given up trying to get me out of bed, making me release the charka threads I used to attach me to the bed because I thought it was safe. But then a pair of much larger hands grabbed me around the thigh and in one swift movement tucked on my leg, leaving me to tumble out of bed and make a loud crashing noise on to the floor.

"Rise and shine Princess." Minato sang happily with a foxy grin on his face. Rolling over, I glared right back at him (trying to hide me shame while everyone in the room laughed at me) but he was not affected by it. Sighing in defeat I pushed myself off the floor and grabbed some clothes hanging off the chair. Grumbling, I –literally- kicked him and the four children out of my room and quickly dressed, putting on my usual: red long t-shirt (with no sleeves), tight fitting combat trousers and black converses on before tying my curly pink hair into a tight braid and slapped on my kunai pouch. A loud yawn escaped my lips as I exited the room. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Minato teased, causing the little ones to cover smirks and Itachi to send me a sympathetic smile. I waved the comment away as I made my way to the bathroom and gave my face a quick wash and brushed my teeth.

"Ready?" I asked the large group, remembering to grab an apple to keep me going until I got back for a late brunch – breakfast was a rare thing to see in this household. At first I had found it weird because the times I had stayed here Kakashi was usually up early to make breakfast but that trait didn't last long after I moved in officially, which I was ok with because that meant sleep ins for me.

"We're ready." Minato answered, gesturing the kids to start moving towards the door. The kids walked in front of us while I, Itachi and Minato walked behind them, keeping a careful eye on little ones; especially the twins who were always up to mischief. We didn't talk much at first and I was happy with that since I wasn't really a morning person and was happy to watch the kids laugh and caused trouble. It didn't take long to drop the kids off to the academy since it was only a fifteen minute walk from the Hatake apartment. A huge smile spread across my face as I watched the kids skip off happily to find their other friends. At least they get a child hood, I thought quietly to myself as I imagined I was six or eleven years old and was going to school to meet my friends. Sadly, that never happen for me because I and my mother lived a nomadic life together, until I was eight when my mother was murdered forcing me to survive on my own for nearly seven years of my life. I bit my tongue angrily as I tried to stop the tears pouring down my face and was able to regain my self control before it fell completely. However, I knew sooner or later Minato or Itachi will ask me about it because they always seemed to catch me in the act before I was able was to slow to cover up the evidence of what I had just been thinking. Speaking of being caught in the act, as soon as we had dropped the kids off, a huge yawn escaped my lips.

"Some ones a little tired." Itachi inquired, being the most perspective of the two oldest friends. Too tired to really use my brain at the moment I just shrugged, not noticing that alarms bells that were going off in the older boys' heads, since I would usually make some kind of sarcastic remark back. Honestly, I didn't even know they suspected anything because my brain was so dead until Minato decided it was about time to say something.

"Nariko, has everything been ok lately? You seem a little tired." Minato asked me out of the blue, snapping my sleeping mind into the reality I had chosen to ignore until now. Crap! Was the first thing I thought when I realised that after weeks of dark circles under my eyes and loud yawning my two ninja friends had finally plucked up the courage to ask what was going on.

"Fine, I've just been having trouble sleeping lately." I answered; it wasn't like I was telling a lie or anything; for once I was telling the truth. Having all these weird dreams lately has been making my ability to sleep a nightmare but it wasn't like I was going to tell them about the dreams otherwise I would hear never ending worry from them and I was sure they had more important things to worry about then me losing some sleep. They were just dreams after all, they would go away in a little while; at least... I hoped so. Nevertheless, I could sense the uncertainty between the two. Just as I sensed I was about to be pounded into the ground by millions of unnecessary questions, Nene jumped down between us with a large box of bright and colourful fabrics and paints in it.

"There you are I've been looking for you everywhere." My female best friend grinned wildly, popping the box of material under one arm and grabbing my wrist with the other, she began pulling me away from the boys and began discussing what she planned to do with my room (even though I had only asked her to help me frame the photos) throwing different ideas right, left and centre, so I had no idea what type of themes she was planning since there were just too many to process at once. Shooting a sorry smile at the boys, I allowed Nene to drag me off to my home, thankful by the sudden save. Hoping that I would survive whatever Nene had in store for me. I joked about how it was probably going to be the most terrifying experience of my life; little did I know I was closer to the truth then I thought.


	2. Mind Tricks

Being an artist, I knew all the different types of colours that would look good together. However, when you're re-modelling your room; fabrics count as well. Who knew DIY can be so complicated? I wondered to herself as I flipped through the third book of different materials people could use in their bedroom. We were only meant to sought the pictures out but Nene decided this was a good time to start decorating my room. This is stupid! I cried inwardly in frustration. Colours I can understand but fabrics... What's the difference? As long as the colours match doesn't that matter overall? Although Nene had a whole different opinion to what I believed in. I decided to stay quiet for the moment, since she was having fun and I thought it was better if one of us got some entertainment out of this. Flipping through the other pictures, not really taking any notice of them until movement caught the corner of my eye. At first I just thought it was my mind playing tricks on me at first, until the pictures on the page began to form together, making a knew picture. A sword? I wondered, as the ink stopped moving and finally formed a picture. Ok, Just another weird thing to add to my list of crazy things that have happened in my life. I brought the catalogue closer to my face to have a better look. It looked like a beautiful sword, with detailed pictures tattooed on the blade, a strong handle and a powerful aura that made you unable to focus on anything else.

"Hey Nariko, how about this?" Nene voice sliced through my trance. In shock, I accidently dropped the book, losing the page that held the strange image that had just formed in it. "Whoo, no need to get spooked." Nene laughed, probably thinking she had made me jump (well she kind of did) but what really freaked me out was the drawing that had appeared in front of me. Quickly, I snatched the book back and searched through every page that exist to see that the image had disappeared.

"Where did it go?" I accidently mutter out loud when I gave up looking for the magical piece of artwork that had appeared out of nowhere. I turned to Nene to see her giving me a weird look.

"Is everything ok?" She questioned, dropping whatever patterns she had been arranging together and sat next to me and placed a comforting arm around my shoulder. I wanted to tell her but I didn't know how to explain it without sounding ... crazy! Taking a deep breath I explained how I had just been flipping through the book and suddenly the page had turned into a drawing of a sword.

"What's wrong with me Nene?" I asked her, feeling my sanity be torn away from me bit by bit. Despite Nene bringing me into a hug and making up excuses to tell me there was nothing wrong with me, I still felt different. My best friend tried her hardest but no matter how much she tried to tell me I was ok, I felt completely the opposite. The weird dreams, the secrets I'm hiding from everyone and now this hallucination! I just wanted to get way from all for one day, was that so much to ask? But then again -reviewing back to my family tree- I don't think any of my DNA was programmed to be normal; let alone have a normal life.

"Hey, why don't you sleep over my house? Get your mind some peace." Nene smiled, once I had seemed to have calmed down a bit. I took a moment to think the offer through, I mean the dreams were still haunting me but I really needed a break from dad. He's a great guy and all but lately both of us have been way too stress lately, maybe some time out of each other's company would do us some good, to just sit back and relax.

"Sure, I need some girl time." I smiled; glad she had brought up the idea. After another hour or so looking at strange materials (thankfully no more hallucinations) we packed up the stuff including my sleepover gear and I quickly left a note for dad telling him where I was -otherwise over half of the Hidden Leaf Village would be searching for me.

The sleepover at Nene's house was just what the doctor ordered. It felt great just to sit back and be a normal teenager: doing each other hair and make-up, playing games and having a nice cup of coco. I loved hanging with my friends but I had to admit everything was beginning to become hard recently in the last month; especially with Minato. The hyperactive blonde ninja was becoming more and more protective of me and it was becoming really annoying, he was my best friend and everything (guy best friend) but she couldn't understand his unusual behaviour. Hopefully, it was just some phrase we were going through and would get past it.

"So are you looking forward to Minato's birthday party?" Nene suddenly, tapping her fluffy bunny slippers on the floor. Looking up from the photo collection I had finally put together, I gave Nene a weird look. I was going to the family party but not his proper eightieth birthday party. They were going to a club and only eighteen year olds were allowed in, I assumed that she was talking about the family one so I said I was looking forward to meeting Gaara and his family again, since they were coming over especially for it but Nene shock her head. "No, I'm talking about going to party girl!" The older kunoichi laughed at me.

"But Nene, I'm only sixteen. There's no way they'll let me in!" I responded, only to duck from a half hearted pillow thrown at my head.

"Nariko can't you see the big picture." Nene cried out. Honestly, I couldn't see this bigger picture that Nene was trying to indicate. It had been comment many of times that I took my looks and brains after my father. I could easily figure out a complicate maths problem or make up a new jutsu in under a minute but when it came to social problems we were both clueless. After a few moments of silence past Nene kindly decided to feel me in on the 'big picture'. "Have you not notice how your body has developed lately, with my help we could totally slip you past security!" She cried out, pointing to the mirror. I turned to the full length mirror she had been indicating to me and I had to admit she was right. In the last month my physical appearance had changed dramatically, my average size breasts had gown a little bigger (forcing me to dig into the new family fortune to buy new bras) that last bit of baby fat around my face had disappeared, so now my sharp features looked even sharper and the new healthy diet that Grandma Tsunade had put me on had made my stick like figure more toned and my pink hair more lush. Sighing to myself, I stopped stroking my facial features and turned to Nene with a stern look on my face.

"Nene! I think the last thing that Minato wants is a kid following him everywhere." I shoot back, chucking the fluffy green pillow that her best friend had thrown at her straight back. But being one of Konohagakure most skilled ninjas', Nene was able to dodge it without even moving; that or I have really bad throwing pillow skills. I watched my friend to see her shake her head in disappointment. When I was about to question her, she raised her hand to silence me.

"Never mind you'll figure it out sooner or later." She answered, spiking my curiosity up to boiling point but I didn't bother trying to get an answer. Nene was black ops, there was no way to get a sewed up mouth to talk even if you tried to rip it opened. "Now go to bed, you've got early shift with Tsunade tomorrow." Nene pointed out. I groaned, knowing that she was right. Man, why do I have to always get the shifts when Tsunade always in a bad mood. It seemed like a good idea at first when Ibiki suggested I work in the hospital, so I wouldn't strangle anyone out of frustration. Suppressing the annoying groan that was threatening to expose itself, Nariko took the Hyuga heiress advice and got herself ready for bed.

_The passage was dark. I could feel the water from the surface as the cold water dripped from the ceiling and on to my creamy skin. I could hear my dad calling behind me but I chose to ignore it, since my thoughts were focused on the song, which I seemed to be the only one to hear. The angelic music bounced off the walls and hit me straight in the face but some kind of force kept me going forward. I climbed the walls furiously but even with the help of my charka, my hands were still covered in blood from the sharp rocks because the walls were just too slippery to get a good grip. As I climb higher and higher, fathers' voice began to disappear and the music became stronger. It took me quite a while before I was able to find some kind of hole in the surface. Pulling myself up I notice some kind of glittering in the distance. Checking that that tunnel was big enough for me to crawl through, I made my way through it until I reached the other end. As soon as I stood up in the large cave my mouth dropped. Bright stones sparkle in the cave walls, shining beautiful lights across the ceiling. However, what really caught my dark eyes was the sword that floated in the middle of the room. I rubbed my eyes and look back at it again, I recognised the sword instantly. For some reason I wasn't shocked like I thought I would be. Slowly, I began to make my way closer to the sword, reaching my hand out to touch it. As soon as flesh and metal connected, power between the two objects burned, as energy built up between us before a large explosion sent me into the darkness. _

Well that was weird! I thought to myself. Not only was it a different dream but it was about that sword. I had been hoping I had been hallucinating earlier but I guess that isn't the case. I looked at the clock to see it was five o'clock, still two hours before I have to get up. For once I felt relaxed and less tired then I had been over the last couple of days. Deciding that I wasn't going to get to sleep any time soon, so I decided to get myself ready and leave early so I could get my thoughts straight. After getting myself wash and dressed I took the long way to the hospital, the streets were quiet except from the stall holders who were beginning to set up shop. I remembered to stop at a food stall and grabbed some cheese and a banana to eat on the way. As I made my why towards the hospital, instead of working out the odd dreams I had been too busy admiring the varies amount of colours in the sky. It wasn't until someone called out to me that my focus was drawn away from the sky. The person who had called me was an old woman, standing behind a jewellery stall.

"Something pretty for the young lady?" Her gentle green eyes smiled, gesturing to the bracelets, rings and necklaces on her booth. At first I was going to turn down the offer but then I thought it would be nice to buy Nene something, since she's done a lot for me. Gradually I made my way over to the stand and looked along the stall for something nice for Nene. In the end I chose a simple bead bracelet with a jewel bunny in the middle that I thought would go well with a necklace that Itachi had brought her last week for her birthday and two diamond clips in the shape of a bunny; Nene was obsessed with the fluffy creatures. I paid for the gifts and was about to leave when the woman handed me something. "Something for yourself." I took the tiny object from her hand and examined it. It was a silver necklace that had two wings with a black diamond in the middle.

"Oh no I couldn't... What!" I cried out when I looked back up to see the lady and the whole jewellery booth had disappeared. 


	3. The Symbol on the Necklace

The silver chain glittered in the bright light as I twirled it around in my fingers, inspecting the small piece of jewellery that had been given to me by the mysterious old lady this morning. I didn't understand what was going on, at first I thought it was some kind of genjutsu but that was impossible since my mental shield could not be affected unless I let it down purposely; however, I tried dispelling anyway just to make sure. As if I thought my life wasn't weird enough, I moaned miserably. Staring at the clock I noticed that my break was nearly up, I quickly placed the necklace back into my locker and sealed it shut. I went around the two lower rooms of the hospital doing my rounds; it was the same old stuff really: kids with the flu, an old person with a back problem and then you have your ninja who came back from their missions injured. Most of the ninjas that came back from these missions were grouchy old men that were annoyed they go injured but not all of them. In fact one of my favourite patients was an injured shinobi and I was just about to visit him.

"Hey babe!" Twelve year old Haru grinned when I walked into the room. A small laugh escaped my lips as I checked out his details on the bottom of the bed, the young boy with the confident attitude had asked me out a number of times but he didn't seem to get what the answer 'no' meant. When I asked him why he continuously asked me the same question and why he was into to me anyway? He just said he just had a thing for older women. The kids' attraction to older women was unhealthy but the young ninja in training had a good heart and made me laugh all the time.

"Please tell me it was not the same cat again!" I moaned, when I saw the small scratch marks on his face and arms. The young Genin just rolled his eyes and scratch one of the bandages covering one of the scratches he had gained from his D-ranked mission.

"Seriously that cat should be boosted up in to an S-rank mission, see how the higher shinobi deal with it." Haru muttered, cursing the cat that had caused himself and his team mates so much trouble- especially him.

"I wouldn't wish that if I were you." I commented, taking the teenagers arm in my hands and began healing his arm of the little grazes. "If that does happen then you will be hunting for the cat when you're a jonin." A huge smirk spread across my face when I heard the boy wince at the idea of having to chase the cat for the rest of his life. It only took me a few minutes to heal all the scratches. Wow, a whole healing session and he still hasn't asked me out yet, I thought proudly to myself, thinking the little guy was starting to grow up. However, just as she was leaving the room she heard Haru cried out.

"Will you go on a date with me this Saturday?" The only thing that escaped my mouth was a loud laugh when I heard this. I guess I spoke to soon, I thought, when I managed to control my giggle fit.

"Ask me again in six years and we'll take?" I yelled back I went around the last of my rounds. Feeling better than I had in weeks, I sent Haru silent thanks you for making me laugh; the kid would never give up trying. If he was like that with girls imagine how determined he was on his missions. One o'clock finally came and I was glad to grab a late lunch, dressing out of the nurse uniform I was forced to wear (sometimes I wonder the only reason men came into this hospital was to look up our skirts) it was much more comfortable to wear my normal clothes then that stupid uniform but uniform someone less frightening took the seat of the head of medicine then no one was going to say something. Stuffing the clothes into the locket my hand touched the silver chain that belonged to the piece of jewellery I had brought from the old woman at her store that morning, my fingers lingered on it for a while before I place the item and the present that I had brought for Nene into my bag with all my other necessary items and left for a lunch meal deal on a store just a few blocks from here. Nevertheless, my plans to get a quick lunch from a store were ruined when someone unexpected waited for me outside the hospital. "What are you doing here?" I smiled when I saw Minato standing outside.

"I knew you would be finishing soon, so I thought you might want to grab some lunch with me." The eldest Uzumaki shone his foxy grin back at me, sending my heart to do back flips.

"I would love to." I answered, taking the arm that Minato offered me and walked down the street with him. The afternoon sun burned brightly on the village, even though it was nearly winter, thankfully there was a cool breeze in the air to help give comfort to the store holders that carried boxes of products to and from their stores. As we walked down the street together, Minato began asking me questions about how the room decorating was getting along and if Nene was driving me insane yet. In return, I asked if he was excited about his birthday coming up. It wasn't until I realised that my yellow companion wasn't taking me to Ichiraku Ramen Bar that I noticed this was the same place that I had brought the jewellery from and quickly searched the stalls for the same on that had sold me the strange (but beautiful) necklace but with no success.

"Are you ok?" Minato voice broke through my search, shaking my arm gently to bring me back to reality. Blinking, I notice that we stopped in front of a little cafe near the west city walls. What the hell has gotten in to me lately? I cursed myself, massaging the side of my temple.

"Sorry Minato I was trying to find this stall I thought I saw, I didn't mean to blank you out." I smiled weakly back at him. The concerned expression was still in my friends' eye and I knew it would stay there until he figured out what was 'really' going on and then solved it. So much for a nice lunch out, I moaned secretly to myself, as my mind began quickly trying to find away to get out of this mess. "Let's go and get lunch." I beamed at him, grabbing his arm and dragging him into the cafe; if this was going to turn ugly I was going to have a full stomach. The hostess placed us at a lone booth hidden at the back of the restaurant, so no one could see us unless they came over. We both start down and started looking at the menu; an edgy silence fell between us, making it the most uncomfortable time we've ever been near each other. Every now and again I would peep over the top of the list of food to see Minato face and try to read his expression; it was not one I like. I knew when Minato was nervously biting the corner of his mouth and reminded silent for this long then he knew that I knew that he could sense I was not telling him everything. Tension in the air grew to the boiling point and I realised if I didn't get out of here soon my head was going to burst in frustration. "I've got to go to the little girl's room." I quickly muttered. Before my companion could protest I headed straight for the rest rooms. The cool air in the ladies room helped me to calm down a bit and was happy to be able to breath for a couple of seconds with no worries. I've got to get a grip! I told myself firmly as I walked over to the sink and started splashing water in my face. The cold droplets dripping down my felt, left wet traces around my face, as the sweat and dirt around on my creamy skin were washed away, allowing my essence to escape my tight inner shell. Feeling more relaxed, I stood up straight wondering how I was going to explain to Minato my strange behaviour lately when my reflection in the mirror changed. It's the damn sword again! I cursed, only half surprised to see the picture form, it was the same as the other times I saw it but something about this image was calling out at me to look closer at it. Like I did when I was at Nene house, I inspected the pictures in graved into the metal of the sword. It was until my eyes examined the handle of the sword carefully that I nearly died of shock. It's been staring at me this whole time! I screamed inwardly at myself. Right in the centre lay an enlarge picture of a circle with two wings. Racing back to the table, I burst through the door and knocked over a few chairs as I made my way over to the table. Minato jumped up in fright and began to ask me what was wrong but I ignored him, since I was too busy searching through my bag. Where is it? I thought in distress as I did not find the small object at first. It wasn't until I reached right to the bottom of the bag that I felt the cold chain graze across my skin. Latching on to it I pulled it out and looked at it carefully. Answering my suspicion, the image was actually the same as the engravings of the blade in my vision.

"Nariko! What hell is going on?" Minato voice shouted through my thick skull. Remembering where I was, I looked up to see him staring right back at her with intensity burning in his baby blue eyes. I must have looked like a psychopath or something because I felt like one.

"Sorry Minato I have to go!" I quickly stammered, stuffing the necklace back into my back and teleported out of the room before anyone could stop me.

The destination was Konohagakure Library; I thought it was the best place to look for answers at the moment since I had no other leads at the moment. As soon as I entered the tall building I went straight to the architecture section and began looking through the books. When I found nothing in them I searched through local clan traditions and finally history. Again, I reached a dead end as I put down the last book that had any reliance to what I was searching through. It's hopeless! Slamming my fists in pure fiery on the solid oak table –that now had a dent in it. It was also no help that I was using all my will power to stay awake; it was possible I missed something out. Deciding it was time to retired, I placed all the books back in there positions. My break through only happen when I was putting the last book away and I noticed something stuffed at the back. What's that? I wondered, placing the books aside and reached into the back to pull it out. I pulled out another books but apart from the other books stacked in the library, this one was almost ancient. The brown leather was coming apart at the corners and the gold writing on the cover was barely readable. 'Legends of the Land of Whirlpool' was all I can make out, whoever wrote it was impossible to tell since the name of the author had disappeared long ago. Interested, I opened the page to have a quick look through but I didn't need to look long as on the first page was the same symbol that was on the necklace and the sword.


	4. A Little Bit of Truth

The short-term happiness I had gained from finally finding out some information about some of the craziness in my life ended when I arrived home; late. It's not like I had meant to be late, I had got so caught up in all the research I had been doing at the library that time had just whizzed past my head. Hell! I hadn't even been able to examine the book any further because the old librarian had tossed me out faster than Lady Tsunade in a really bad mood. However, the fury these two woman had shown was not going to be as bad as what I was about to step into. Holding the book close to my chest and stepped into the apartment; totally unaware of what I was stepping into. I saw him sitting at the end of the table, none of the dogs in site. Strange? I first thought when I noticed none of them were around since there was always (and I mean 'always') it was quite odd. Just as I was about to open my mouth and speak, he put his hand up to stop me.

"Sit. Down." The words were hardly loud or dangerous but something in the tone made it seem like those two words were. Cautiously, I made my way over to the dining table and sat on the opposite side; facing him. I knew he would be mad when I got home since I was way past curfew but there was something more sinter to the way he said it that it made me think there was more to it. "Care to explain to me why you went into a crazy fit when you were with Minato today?" My father enquired, sounding like he was trying to hold himself back. Taking in the situation around, I now knew I was in deep trouble.

"I remember I hadn't finished off an important task at the hospital." I blurted out; since it was the only decent excuse I could think of. If someone else had used the excuse it might have worked but because I said it, I knew it was going to backfire the spilt second it slipped out of my mouth because I was a terrible liar. The whole place shock like an earthquake when Kakashi's hand bashed his fist on the table, making me want to run at that very moment but something inside me helped me to stand my ground against him.

"Nariko! We both know your lying so just tell me the truth." Kakashi demanded but I couldn't help but sense the pleaded that had cracked through his expressionless disguise. Now I was really trapped. I really wanted to tell him, I really did but how? What was going to say? Well dad, I've been have dreams about a giant monster that eats people and a sword that seems to be stalking me where ever I go, not to mention I'm starting to hallucinate about an old woman who runs a jewellery store... Yeah, doesn't make any sense at all. Besides I didn't want to worry him then he already was I just needed a bit more time to put this all together and figure out what the hell is going on. But how was I going to tell him?

**Tell him the truth.**

This has nothing to do with you so go away!

**Hello! I am you remember, I am the voice of reason.**

More like the voice of bad timing and annoying interruptions.

**Yeah but that's too mouthy.**

Ggggrrrrr, this is no time for you to be popping in your ideas.

**I actually think it's the perfect time.**

Only you would think that.

**Ignoring that slightly hurtful comment I would say tell him the truth. Not all of it but enough to help him understand.**

Right now a part of me wanted to scream as loud as I could and rip my head out in a mixture of anger and annoyance. The only thing that stopped me was the fact that dad was in the room and it would just cause a lot more problems – not to mention a bad haircut. Knowing that my alien twin inside me was right (only on a certain level) I took a deep breath and began picking my next words carefully as I began to twist the truth a little.

"Honestly dad I have no idea what's going on myself, if you just give me a little more time to put this all together and figure out what's going on I promise I'll explain everything to you." I said, watching my father's expressions. Only a few moments silence past between us but to me it felt like the coming and going of an ice age. I began biting on my bottom lip nervously, knowing what my dad was thinking was very important and it was killing me not to know. All of a sudden, Kakashi got up from the table and brought me into a hug. At that moment –feeling safe and secure in his arms- I almost told him everything. However, last minute I remember what was more important and just clung on to him with all my might. After a moment my father push me away slightly, so we could see each other's face clearly.

"I give you a little more time Nariko but if this goes too far I will put my foot down." Kakashi stated firmly to me. A small smile spread across my face as I hugged my dad again, I loved that he was so understanding but I still felt kind of guilty for not telling the whole truth but I honestly thought this is something I would have to figure out on my own. After my conversation with dad, I went straight to my room and began searching for information. When I first began reading the book I had discovered at the library, I only found out a few minion things about the countries inhabitants and its trades but as I read deeper into the book in began talking about local myths and legends I caught a few interesting few words that caught my eye like lunar eclipses, the Tsukino clan and I even spotted the Uzumaki name in the book. Taking a notebook and an atlas from my book shelf I began writing key points and mapping special areas in the Land of Whirlpool that could be important for future references. What finally caught my attention was a legend about The Rebirth. As I read on I discovered that thousands of years ago a great evil conquered the world, in an effort to save her beloved people the Princess of the Whirlpool country – Kunie- sacrificed herself with an action so filled with love that Kami brought her back to life armed with angel like powers and a sword that could wipe out half an army in one swift move. In the end the Princess managed to defeat the great demon and when she became Queen, she ruled in a time of harmony and peace. I wondered what the Princess did to make the Kami give her those unique powers? I wonder to myself. If the story was true then she must of down something special because I has never heard of Kami granting anyone else a second chance like that before. Despite the fact that I wanted to learn more, the feeling of tiredness began to over take me so I decided it was time for me to catch some shut eye, otherwise Lady Tsunade was going to have a go at me tomorrow if I fell asleep when I shouldn't be. Tucking the book and the research I made into the top draw of the desk, I quickly activated the seal on it (something Minato had made for her) knowing that my work would not be disturbed I dress for bed and went to sleep; only to be followed by more strange dreams and finally an answer to a question.

_It was darker than it should have been; even if it was the middle of the night. The sky was empty! No stars or moon shone upon the Earth's surface. The only thing that filled the air was the screams or pain and anger, as beasts of unknown origin tore men apart. Somewhere in the distance the sound of many horse hooves storming across the earth's dry floor could be heard shattering the earth's crust. The smell of horse and human sweat filled the noses of animals and people that surrounded them as they raced onwards. Finally, they came to a clearing that was filled with trees that had been un-rooted or torn through, along with blood covered bodies – some moving and some were lifeless as stone. A beautiful woman in her early twenties jumped off her horse and ran to the closet man she could find. The man on the horses next to her followed her actions and began treating survivors. Quickly and effectively, they began rounded up the dead and the wounded onto the spare horses and carts to take them back to the fort where they would receive better treatment. They took hours cleaning and mending the deepest wounds of the injured. It must have been nearly sunrise, since light began to glow in the sky, when everybody that could be found on the battle field could be found._

"_Is that all of them!" The princess demanded as she made her way back to the lords that had willing followed her to the danger field. Some of them old and some of them young, others were short and others were tall and all had different personalities. However, the loyalty and bravery that shone in their eyes was something they all had in common._

"_We believe so princess." One of the middle age men with a well worn uniform answered briskly. The princess seemed unsatisfied with the answer as she began searching the shadows of the area to see if they hid anything. _

"_Get the wounded back to the hospital; I shall have one more look to see if there are anymore." The Princess answered, as she whistled for her horse._

"_But Princess Kunie! It's too dangerous; think what your father would say!" A younger solider pointed out only to be dismissed with a single flick of a single finger. _

"_I can think of what he would say." She began as her horse trotted over to her and she climbed on to her fierce stallions back. "However, that does not dismiss I have a job to do and so do you gentlemen, now I gave you an order, get those men back to the hospital." Before they could say another word the princess leapt kicked her horse, making it ran towards the darkest areas of the battlefield. It wasn't like she had gone far but it was dangerous to go into the shadows; you never knew what was hidden in them. __The princess was about to turn back to her lord when the sound of a groan caught her attention, she knew better then to wonder into the shadows all by herself but when another groan echoed through the trees, all thoughts all her own safety disappeared from her mind. Jumping from her horses back she proceed__ed__ further and further into the unknown until she came on to another place that seemed wrecked to shreds. It was then that princess saw the man... no, boy! Wearing a __soldiers__ uniform laying trapped under a tree. Father, are we so short handed in __soldiers__ you send boys to fight now, __she__ thought sadly to herself as a mixture of emotions stirred inside her. Hitching the hem of her skirt up, she climb over tree stumps and rocks that blocked her way from the boy. Once she was close enough, the princess saw that the boy was completely trapped. Half of his body lay under a tree and one of his hands had been crushed under a boulder. It was hard to see through the thick blood that was splattered all over his face but she could just make out the stain marks of tears. Moving ever so carefully not to frighten the boy, she made her ways towards him. The boy began to fight franticly when he saw a dark shape loom over him but as soon as he __recognised__ it was the princess he froze in shock._

_"Princess." The boy managed to whisper __somehow__. The princess only shushed him and __laid__ a long, slender finger gently on his mouth._

_"Quiet now, you need to conserve your energy." She smiled sweetly done at him. It was one of the most loving smiles the boy had ever seen and it made his heart glow. Unable to find anymore words to say to her the boy did as he was told. The only time she turned away was when she summoned a message hawk to bring help for the young lad. When she turned back she placed the boys head on her lap and began singing an old song that the boy solider didn't know most of the words to. Despite the boys fight to hold on for his dear life he could not help but feel the life energy being sucked out of him. For the first time -in a long time- the boy did not feel anyway pain or fear in the world. Instead he felt peaceful, as he listen to her __delicate__ voice and watched the sun begin to rise in the sky. "__Beautiful__, is not it." The princess smiled as she to notice the orange glow in the sky. The beautiful moment that the two humans were sharing were suddenly shattered when a low and dangerous growl. The boy painfully turned his head to see a beast crawl out from the darkness, __its__ red eyes focused directly on the two of them. _

_"Princess run! Save yourself!" The boy shouted with all his might, ask the monster moved closer and closer towards them. He could feel the panic __piercing__ through his chest and fear sweated from his body as the __demon slowly advances__._

_"I won't leave you." The princess whispered back firmly, __continuing__ to stroke the boys' hair to help comfort him. The boy was shocked by these __words;__ he had heard stories that the princess was brave but not this brave. A single woman not battering an eyelid as she stared the beast down. _

_"Why?" The boy __solider__ asked, not sure why a princess was protecting a low rank solider like him__self__ when she should be running for her life. Studying her reaction, her cherry lips stretched into a thin smile._

"_Because it is my duty to protect my people, which includes you." She whispered back like it was the most obvious thing in the world, moving her body into a protective cover over the boy, so i was her that faced the beast. Before the solider could say anymore, he was shushed by her finger again and listened intently to the music she sang. It was so beautiful that he almost forgot about the beast; until it killed her in front of his eyes. _


	5. Making Up

I still couldn't get the dream out of my head. I wasn't sure if the dream was real or if it was just made up. But to be honest, my instinct was telling me to lean towards the dream being real. Preparing myself for the morning of long shifts, I couldn't help but think back to the dreams and how they had changed so suddenly. They had gone from scaring the shit out of me to just being weird and confusing, I wasn't sure if I was starting to miss the nightmares; despite the fact I had actually been getting some sleep with these strange ones they were just drove me up the wall. Not to mention the fact that I knew I needed to make up to Minato for totally flipping out the other day, even if that meant suffering the bombardment of questions I knew I was going to receive. During my spare time at the hospital, I quickly sent a carrier pigeon to Minato ask him to meet me at Ichiraku for lunch after shift. For the rest of the day I focused on my patients and thankfully it succeeded, since for a couple of hours I didn't worry about the weird dreams I had been receiving or any of the worries that I had caused among the people closets to me. I didn't bother waiting for a reply from my best friend because I knew him to well to know that he would give up anything he was doing to come and meet me. That was just the kind of person the blonde ninja was, if he thought his friends were in some king of trouble then he would come to their side instantly. In view of the fact that I had told him to meet me at his favourite ramen shop, I thought I would have the walk there to think through what I was going to say to his face. However, when I exited the building, I walked straight into him.

"Ouch!" I cried out as soon as nose and back connected and I almost went tumbling over if my skilled friend ad not stopped my fall. In all honesty I didn't even know it was him at first, until I found my face less then and inch from his. The redness in my cheeks crew quickly and I there was nothing I could do about it. "I thought I told you to meet me at Ichiraku!" I couldn't help but blurt out. An irritated look stretched across his beautiful features; the look didn't really suit him.

"Sorry for thinking you might want to walk together after your shift." The ninja snapped back, making me step back in surprise. Surely this couldn't be my Minato; he had never raised his voice to anyone in such an angry way before – let alone at me. I could feel the rage building up inside me and would have shouted back but then I remember this was Minato I was talking to and the last thing I needed was to make the thing between the worse. Calming myself with a deep breath and biting the inside of my cheek and counted to ten silently in my head.

"You're right. I'm sorry I shouldn't have just snapped at you like that." I apologised, my eyes pleading with his to forgive me. The ugly monster that had reared up in her friend suddenly disappeared and was replaced by another look. He suddenly looked tired and ill, almost old looking. Did he look like that yesterday? I wondered to myself, as I tried to piece together what could have made him like this.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." Minato whispered back, shame written all over his face. Stepping forward, I placed a gentle hand on his forehead and let healing charka run through his skin.

"You've got a fever." I spoke suddenly, letting him know that whatever happened was now behind us. Just as Minato was about to say something, I placed a finger with my free hand on his lips as I continued with the process. Has he not been sleeping probably? I wondered to myself as I checked Minato energy levels to find they were very low, forcing more charka into his body I started recuperating his energy levels. After a little while, the tighten muscles around his mouth and brow suddenly relaxed and the temperature had died down a great deal. "Any better?" I asked stepping away but as soon as I got a good look at him, I could see he was a lot better since his childish youth had been replaced back into his face and a large smiled, gleamed from his face.

"Loads better!" He smiled back at her even more. I was tempted to inquire if he had been sleeping probably but I thought it was not best to ask at the moment, since we had just rekindled our friendship. The moment stopped immediately when his stomach began to rumble loudly.

"Want to get some lunch now?" I suggested, as the growl had reminded me how hungry I was and that we were supposed to be going for lunch at the ramen bar.

"Yeah, I really need something to eat." Minato laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck which to me and anyone that knew him was the sigh that he was embarrassed. Shaking my head, I wrapped my slim arms around Minato's golden muscling one. He smiled down at me as he led me to his favourite ramen bar. The sun was giving off a warm, gentle heat against the harsh wind that made talking to Minato a lot more enjoyable. I still found it hard to believe how easily I could talk to him, he was the first proper friend I ever met in Konohagakure and accepted me for who I truly was without ever asking me any questions, an icy wind creped along the base of my neck, sending cold vibrations along my creamy skin. Shivering a little, I wrapped the bright red scarf that Hamako got for my birthday just a few months and cuddled into Minato's side a little more to steal his body heat. I was so busy enjoying his warm presence that I had not realised that it had gone suddenly silent between us, until a considerate amount of time had gone past. Looking up at the boy, I saw he was giving someone a dirty look.

"What's the matter Minato?" I asked, trying to follow his line of eye sight but since there was a big height gap between us and I couldn't see anyone familiar that he could be given those looks to, all I could do was wait for an answer.

"Oh? Nothing." He replied innocently, turning his full attention back to me. Just as I was about to ask him what was wrong, he announced we were at Ichiraku Ramen Bar and my stomach yelled out in protest to get food now and ask questions later. We both ordered our favourite BBQ flavour and chowder down without any complicates. I still felt guilty about the other day, so I made sure I slapped my money down first before Minato could protest and dragged him away. After Minato gave a small protest about looking bad for not being a gentlemen (which I completely ignored) we walked aimlessly in different directions, somehow coming up to the top of the Hokage monument.

"Breath taking isn't it?" I suddenly said out loud for no apparent reason, as I stood and watched the sun begin to set. Minato had already sat down, carefully pulling me down so I was sat next to him. We sat in utter silence just admiring the view.

"Are you going to tell me about what happened yesterday?" Minato inquired suddenly, almost making me bolt up in realisation. I mentally slapped myself on the forehead as I finally reminded myself what I was doing here in the first place. Nervously, I began chewing my bottom lip, wondering what I should say. It was easy with my dad because even though he was very protective of me he knew I grew up a very independent life and respected my decisions but Minato was completely the opposite. He would use every resource at his disposal to help his friends; even if they didn't want it. I turned in his direction to see his baby blues eye staring directing into mine, I had fallen into the trap, there was no way I can get out in simple half truths or lie; not that I could lie in the first place.

"Minato, I... I can't" I sighed sadly, looking away from him. Staring at the sun, I could still feel his intense stare on the side of my head. It also didn't help when I felt his warm touch on my hand.

"Nariko." He begged, I could sense the helplessness in his voice. For some reason I got really angry all of a sudden, I didn't know where it came from but all I knew was that it was directed at him. As my blood burn I turned to him about to snap when something past his shoulder caught my eye. I couldn't believe it, it was... it was Kunie! She wasn't how I saw her in my dream she was 'mightier' somehow, with the toned muscles and the suit of golden armour she wore with wings growing out of her back. But despite all of these differences she still had the same kind face. I could not take my eyes off her; I must have looked liked a right idiot to Minato. In my trance, all I could do was watch as she moved her arm and placed her hand over her chest.

"_Trust all of who you love."_ Her soft spoken voice rang across the field before fading out of existence. It was only when the princess was completely gone; that I noticed Minato was shaking me.

"Nariko! Are you alright?" Minato cried out, bringing our eyes into contact again. For a second I thought I would start freaking out again but being in Minato presence somehow kept me calm. I wasn't going to freak out again, not in front of my best friend.

"Ok, here's the truth." I began, turning my full attention. From them on nothing was held back. The dreams, the visions and the book I found in the in the library; everything. After I had finished I waited for the hyperactive blonde to say something outrageous or caring but for once he was quiet. Oh man, he thinks I'm crazy! I moaned inwardly but how could I blame him, all this stuff was crazy.

"I can't believe you told Nene about the sword and not me!" Minato shouted out all of a sudden, this sent him flying the tree trunk nearby when I punched him in the stomach.

"I just let my heart and soul out to you and all you can talk about is the freaking katana!" I yelled at him. Who cared if I just broke every bone in his body? He deserved it. I just stood there with my arms folded over my chest, as I waited for the boy to peel himself away from tree trunk.

"Should I even ask what happened?" Itachi questioned, standing next to me. I just glared at him, making him back off slightly from where I stood. After a while, Minato managed to pull his body out of the crack I had sent him in to (it probably would of been quicker if I allowed Itachi to help him but I wanted to make him suffer) making his way towards me he pulled me into a big hug.

"I'm sorry; I just didn't know what else to say." He whispered in my ear. At that moment, all was forgiven and I couldn't help but laugh at Minato childishness. "I've always got your back; somehow, we'll work out what these dreams mean." I think what really made me happy was when he said 'we' and I felt a huge weight lifted from my shoulders.

"As much as I hate to break up this heartfelt moment..." Itachi suggested, making me and Minato spilt apart to look at him. "But we have a mission." All of us just rolled our eyes and gave each other a knowing look, before we completely separated from the other person's arms.

"Ok, let's go." Minato offered, sending me a wink. But before anyone else could move, Itachi put his hand up to stop him.

"Sorry Minato but I was talking to Nariko."


	6. Daddy Steps In

**Finally it's up! Man it took me forever to write this chapter would of had it up earlier if my stupid computer didn't crash with all my files on it. Anyway, even though it's been a long time I hope you enjoy :D**

As day turned into night, I and Itachi made our way to the Hokage tower, walking past shinobi who were rushing to finish their work so they could get home and enjoy a quiet evening or to see their families. Hope Minato's okay, I prayed as the guilt of just leaving him on the mountain all by his self in a frozen state of shock. Though I had to admit his face looked so funny when his mouth just dropped open at what Itachi had said but then again I had probably made a similar expression that was just as bad. Finally, we made it to the leader's office, Itachi knocked three times. They waited for only a few seconds as they waited for the voice to call them in. The Uchiha heir was the first to enter the room with me following close behind. As we entered we saw that Naruto wasn't the only one in the office, Ibiki and Tsunade were in the room as well.

"Hello Lord Hokage." Both of the teenagers said and we performed a bow to show our leader respect. Both of us saw the man's face twisted from the sound of the title, everyone knew he didn't like anyone calling him by his formal title, especially by people he was close to. Nevertheless, he responded with an official response as well as he pulled out a mission script from the large, messy pile that existed on the desk; properly always would.

"I have a mission for you from a small village located near the village hidden in the clouds." The man went on as he unfolded the paper from its seal and handed it towards Itachi first who after a quick read through hand it to me with slightly shaky hands. Now I was worried by what this small gesture meant as I forced myself to read the same information. I could see why my friend had been a little shaken after reading this, it was shocking, it should not of happen, it was just... impossible. Even though I didn't want to I forced myself to read it again just to be certain. A part of me wanted to be sick but I held myself strong in front of these people.

"When do we leave?" I quickly asked, placing the form back on to the table and my uncle figure quickly reached out and hid it somewhere in one of the desk draws. The man had a blank expression on his face which was very rare to see from the hidden leaf's village number one hyperactive ninja, the blonde man had just too much energy to contain all his emotions. I guessed that somewhere during his time he had been selected as the newest kage of the land of fire he had learned it from someone for important meetings like this.

"Tomorrow morning." He answered, fixing himself into a comfortable position in his chair and signalled for Tsunade to take over and explain.

"The village was attacked by an unknown illness and all villages are sending their best to sort out the problem before it spreads out. The bad news is that the village had a lot of bandit attacks but can't afford proper military support and most medics are afraid to go, that's why they are asking for one medic and one body guard." She finished and nodded to both of us. I could feel my throat go dry, I was honoured to be offered the position but to be sent to a country and represent the village, it was a bigger responsibility that I could ever imagine having, not to mention the disease was unlike anything I had ever come across. What if I failed? What if I did something the meant more lives were placed in danger? What if…?

"Nariko, we know you can handle this, Tsunade claims you're more qualified than most of the people here and I believe you are psychologically ready to handle something like this." Ibiki was quick to add in after watching me closely. The man was getting to good at reading me and it had improved ever since he had started treating me; damn those therapy sessions I had to go to. I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and turned to see Itachi smiling at me.

"Don't worry, you'll do great." He tried to comfort me and even though it was supposed to be helpful I couldn't help but feel more nervous. Still, I knew these people wouldn't send me useless they were fully sure about my abilities and about me. Whatever happened, I knew I would do what needed to be done.

To be honest I was excited about the whole thing. Maybe Ibiki and Tsunade are right, I wondered to myself as I and Itachi bowed to the Hokage and the heads of the districts in Konohagakure. However, there was one thing that bothered me as I exited the office. How I was going to tell my dad?

I decided the best way was to treat this situation with my dad was to act like it was a bad bandage that needed to be taken off, quick and painless- well as painless as you could get. At least I had a little time to prepare myself, since dad was out training the dogs. This gave me some time to make his favourite dinner: salt-broiled saury and miso soup with eggplant. I had been hoping it would soften him up a bit but as soon as the dogs and Kakashi came trotting through the door he already knew something was up.

"Ok, what's up?" My father stern tone asked instantly, as soon as I placed his food down on the dining room table. Taking a deep breath, I answered.

"I'm going on a mission." Was all I could say at that moment? At first my father's face was its usual un-emotionless self that was quite a regular site to see. Well, he's taking this better than I expected, I began to think, until realisation started to dawn on the masked man's face. Uh oh! I thought, as dad's look back to calm again – a little to calm. "I'll be right back honey; I just have to see Uncle Naruto very quickly." He answered and made his way towards the front door. Oh crap! Was all my mind could shout as I followed him out the door? As he marched his way purposely towards the Hokage tower I tried my best to convince him why I had been sent on the mission. Sure, I wasn't actually a registered ninja but I was just as skilled as any jonin (I had beaten him in our first training match together unless he had forgotten) and my talents were needed for this mission; I couldn't just turn back. However, my old man ignored me the whole way as he made his way to the building, up the stairs and literally kicked the door of the office down.

Loading the last of my weapons and supplies into the rucksack, I found myself ready to face the day ahead. I was feeling confident about the mission as a result of having a nomadic life I used my healing ninjutsu's to earn a bit of money to survive, so I wasn't afraid about going to a different country and using my charka to heal strangers who would probably tell me to go away because they were too proud to have a stranger treat them – though for this type of disease I doubted anyone would be complaining. What really did knock me off my senses was that I had never faced such a big operation before in my life. Meeting a team of the brightest medical ninjas the shinobi world had to offer and I was going to be part of it; in ways it was terrifying and yet strangely exciting. A knock from the caught my attention and I looked up to see dad leaning against the door frame with his own bag slung over his shoulder.

"Ready to go?" He asked with a smug expression that had not left his face ever since he managed to convince (more like threaten) Uncle Naruto to replace Itachi with himself after he wasn't able to get him to budge about sending me on the mission. Dad saw it as father daughter bonding time; I saw it as a natural disaster just waiting to happen.

"In a minute dad, just putting the last of my supplies together." I smiled back, as I put the last of the scrolls into the bag. He just shrugged and went back into the living room to wait. With a deep sigh, I put the last object in and zipped it up; I took a long look around my room and did another sigh. It would be a long time I would see this room in its bland shape, with pictures scattered about. Only a few had been placed into frames, one contained a picture of just me and my dad from a picnic we had gone to a few weeks ago, another was an old one of me and mum and another contain a big group photo including myself with Minato, Nene and Itachi. I was taking some time to absorb in everything because it could be a long time before I saw any of these things again and the people that have resolved around my life. "Okay I'm ready!" I called out and went to meet my father.

It took us four days to reach the bordered of the land of lightening. We still had a while to reach the village but reach now we had decided to take a break and eat some lunch before we register ourselves in. So far the trip had gone well and nothing bad had happen which I found surprising because I had this feeling that something was going to happen. Still, I would not jinx it and ask questions to why this was. Instead, I decided to just go with the flow and enjoy the peaceful moments I had received so far. The sun burnt down on my back hard despite it being hidden somewhere behind the clouds. If mum had not taught me that technique to use my charka as a shield around my skin then I would be burnt to a crisp right now (not to mention spent hundreds on sun cream) dad didn't have to worry so much since his whole body was covered and the bare piece of flesh that was showing was hidden behind his favourite book. Though I found it impossible to understand how he was able to withstand this blistering heat. I had switched my normal attire into white shorts and a short sleeve shirt with brown sandals. My hair was braided into a high ponytail to stop the thick locks heating up my neck which was already dripping in cold sweat. Swiping the liquid off from my skin and sighed as I lay back on the grass and tried to relax. I found the bordered of the land of lightening had very unusual weather conditions. The place looked like it should in the winter season with its grey skies, leafless trees and soundless forests as a result of most of the animals going into hibernation. But the temperature it's self was diabolical. Closing my eyes I breathed in the air which was so different from my home. I decided to use the time practice my mediation excises, relaxing all parts of my body so it was easier for my spirit to be let go. However, before the transformation could be complete the sharp snap of a twig brought all my senses on alert, I sprang up about to call out to dad that something was wrong when a gloved hand covered my mouth. It belonged to the silver man who was staring in the same direction I had heard the noise coming from. Slowly, he took his hand away from my mouth and both of us stood up in defensive positions keeping a hand on our pouches in case we needed to defend ourselves. Out of the corner of my eye I could see my dad performing hand signals and giving me orders. I nodded to show that I got the message and we spilt up to try and surround whoever was out there. Staying to the shadows, my father took the right while I took the left. We planned to ambush whoever was hidden in the forest. Like a lion sneaking up behind its prey, I gracefully bounced along the tree branches, keeping out of site and staying concealed among the woodland surroundings. Another crack of a twig made me paused and stay behind a tree trunk for cover. Slowing my breathing, I allowed my senses to take over; feeling every breath, taking in every smell and listening to every sound. For just a few moments, nothing out of the ordinary caught my instincts attention. Then the smell of human sweat and blood caught my attention. All my energy went into focusing where the direction of the smell was coming on. Placing my index finger in my mouth, I made sure it was soaked in my saliva before taking it out again and waited. Finally the side of my finger went cold, meaning that the wind carrying the smell was coming from the east. They had to be very close for me to smell them so clearly. Carefully, I slipped my hand into my kunai pouch and drew the metal weapon out, listening to my surroundings. Another snap of wood echoed through the forest and I leapt, allowing my body to take control and follow the sound. My foot struck the chest of a figure and slammed them into the ground.

"Who are… you?" My voice trailed off when my eyes took in the person who I had just tackled. The person was barely four foot and showed signs they had been suffering an improper diet for the past few weeks, despite this they still had a young plumpness around their face and innocent blue eyes that were looking up with her with a fear striken expression. This person looked barely older than eight years old and yet they were dressed as if they were geared for war.


	7. First Apperances

I could only stare in shock as I looked at the young child that I was pinning down. I shook my head fiercely just to make sure that I wasn't hallucinating or something but the innocent face of a nine year old still remained in place. Somewhere in the distance I could feel my father was approaching, probably hearing the small take down from far off. Finally, I stood back up and placed my weapon back in its pouch were it would be safe from causing any harm. Looking back down the girls frighten expression had change from horror to complete and utter confusion. But as soon as I took on step towards her so I could help her up she was back on her feet and slashed a kunai at me. At that moment I had never been so thankful of my years of training because if I hadn't dodged out of the way in time I would have had a large cut across my face that would of probably ended up scarring knowing my luck. Again the child leapt for me but this time I was more prepared and stepping to the side so the weapon would go past me I grabbed the arm and twisted backwards into a rather painful position.

"Drop it kid! I don't want to hurt you more then I already am!" I commanded yet the small girl still continued to struggling against the uncanny position I had her in.

"Did I miss something?" My father's lazy toned voice echoed somewhere behind me. I could do nothing but roll my eyes at the silly question, sometimes I wondered if he was actually insane or if it was getting worse from old age. The child stilled when she heard the other voice add to the group and her eyes widen like she feared she was a robber who had just been convicted for his crimes and would have to face the noose.

"I found whoever was attempting to spy on us if that's what you're asking." I exclaimed and turned the child around to face him, expecting my father to be just as shocked as I was but instead he tilted his head to the side and looked at her as if he was remembering an old memory. I wanted to know desperately what was going on but instead I bit the inside of my cheek and kept my mouth shut.

"Aren't you a little far from your village?" Kakashi asked the young girl casually like he had done this a million times before (in fact he probably had) the girl just snapped at him like some wild animal that had just been caught and was fighting against the restraints she was not use to.

"I won't let anymore bandits steal from our village!" The small child hissed back at my father. It took a little while for the information to sink in but then I finally got it. She wasn't attacking me out of the blue; she thought we were robbers; though I found it a bit offensive that she still tried to attack me even though I hadn't caused any serious harm to her.

"We're not bandits we're leaf shinobi." Kakashi informed the child and pointed to the symbol carved into his headband to prove it. "We've been sent to help find a cure for the Midorimomo village." He informed her and at that instant I could feel all the tension in the girl's body suddenly disappeared.

"Really, you're here to help my village!" She cried out hopefully, more of a statement then a question, my father nodded in response. With the girl calm I thought it was about time I let her go and carefully placed her arm back in its normal position. Once the girl realised she was free she stepped away from me, rubbing the poor shoulder I had trapped behind her back just moments ago. It was clear the girl had taken a liking to my dad but not to me as she sent me evil glares. Well you started it! I wanted to yell back but knew was not the best time to act like a child did my best to reframe myself, though I could not hold back the dark glare. Little brat, I thought, usually I was very good with children but something about this girl just rubbed me in all the wrong places.

"Would you do us the honour of leading us back to your village?" My father asked, sensing the tension that was dangerously building up. Looking away from me the girl gave him a smile.

"Sure." She beamed and began walking. Both I and my dad gave a funny look at each other before shrugging and followed the girl through the woods.

It did not take us long to find the path back on to the main road which led to the village. The girl went on to explain how she had been on patrol looking for any bandits since their raids had increased lately and was really effecting their food supply, not to mention stealing some of the medicine the village doctors were trying to use to help the sick. Despite having a bad vibe about the girl I did feel sorry for her. Here was a nine year old girl out every day trying to find bandits to take out so she could protect her home. In a way her spirit was similar to the will of fire and probably would fit in well with our own village; if she wasn't so annoying of course. Finally after about ten minutes of listening to non-stop banter, we came to the village main gates. For such a small village I couldn't help wince at the sight of the amount of fortifications that had around the walls; obviously the situation must have been worse than expected if a small village like this was just as well fortified as a hidden village. As we approached the gates a tall man with blue hair that had flecks of white in it and a hard mouth approached us, holding out his katana in case we were enemies.

"State your name and purpose." He ordered, not bothering with any formalities. Dad stepped forward with a scroll and handed it over to the man.

"Kakashi Hatake and Nariko Haruno from the village hidden in the leaves responding to the urgent call you sent out." His tone emotionless but not cold as he address the guard and with one swift swipe, the head guard took the parchment from my father's hand and started reading through the continents. Earlier my father and I decided it was best that we let him handle the formal situations, since he had more experience with this type of stuff then I did. After reading through the documents, the man handed the paper back.

"You're late." The man said coldly, glaring at the copy nin but it was a waste of time since it just seemed to bounce off my dad as he shrugged in response.

"You see there was this black cat on the road..." My dad began and I couldn't help but slap my hand hard against my forehead. The man was impossible to take anywhere, I swear his accuses got worse and worse or he repeated old ones he used just a week before. Seriously, the man was a trained ANBU agent who was meant to know how to speak bullshit in tight situations! Couldn't he just use a bit of that to make at least some half decent ones; so much for being formal. However, I was not the only one who was not amused as the guard just stared at him with an angry burning look in his eyes.

"How is the situation at the moment?" I interrupted, trying to turn the guards' attention away from me and not on my dad because the expression on his face looked like he might kill my dad any second.

"It remains the same, the doctors from the other villages have made some process in making the patients comfortable but no one understands what it is or how the disease is spreading." He informed her. After finding out more about the situation we were allowed to enter the village and had to wait for someone to escort us. The site wasn't pretty. There were many funeral pyres from where the death had been stack up and burnt, since it was to unhygienic and time costing to bury them in graves. Small houses were all bordered up and the ones that weren't were closed shut, the only people that were outside were mostly children who had possibly lost their families and had nowhere else to go. My heart ached at the site, how something could like this happen, I wondered trying to keep back the tears as I tried to take in the situation. I had only been here for a few seconds and already I was falling apart. A small tug on my shorts dragged me out of my depression thoughts long enough to see a small child around the age of five with messy hair, a dirty face and large green eyes that had a desperate plead in them.

"Do you have any food to spare kind lady?" The child asked and held out his hands with his puppy eyes still staring at her. Instinctively my hands went into my rucksack and pulled out a loaf of bread I had brought a few towns over to make sandwiches with; now it would serve a high purpose.

"Here you go." I smiled sweetly as I placed the food into the hands. The toddler looked at the bread like it was a wonderful magic trick; obviously he had not been expecting so much. Suddenly the child disappeared over to a dark alley.

"I wouldn't do that again if I were you." A croaky old voice warned me and I turned to see an old woman with a hunched back, walking towards her with a cane to support her weight. "Keep feeding them food and they'll never leave you alone." The old hag explained as she hobbled towards me. I couldn't help but feel I was being approached by an ancient spirit with the deep heavy wrinkles that sunk from her face, the shocking white hair and dark eyes that squinted hard for sight.

"I thank you for your kind words but it doesn't bother me unlike some people, I will do what I can for them." I replied, shocked by my own confidence. Everyone that stood close looked a little taken back excepted from my dad who had a proud smile that was hidden by his mask that only an expert like me would know it was there. Finally, a young man approached us and bow deeply.

"Welcome shinobi of the leaf, I am Kanda, I will escorting you around." He smiled politely. Something about him reminded me about Aunty Hinata with the formal way he held himself but still a warming presence that made him opening. Directing further into town we followed him, it was at this moment that the girl from the woods decided to speak up for the first time.

"Are you crazy? You can't talk like that to Old Batty Brain!" She cried out when she was sure they were far away another to be out of hearing distance. Old Batty Brain? I repeated in my head, not sure whether I should laugh or scowl.

"Oki! Don't call her that it's rude." Kanda scowled at the young child (saving me the trouble of doing anything) they young girl just huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's not like I have to worry, I'm not the on that's going to be cursed." Oki muttered under her breath and I wasn't going to ask what she meant because I didn't want to know. As Kanda guided us through the small village we saw more decaying bodies just laying in the streets as people walked through just ignoring them as they tried to get on with their every days lives. My stomach did somersaults in my body as I felt the need to vomit all the time. Our guide tried his best to keep us happy and tried to point out important buildings that we needed to know but everywhere we looked there was something depressing along with it. Finally, we were led to the make shift hospital tents which had been set up because the hospital was very small and over following already. Anything seemed to completely normal at first as we walked along but the a sudden pain explored into my head as millions of voices tried to talk to me all at once. I screamed in agony.


	8. Worse then I thought

All at once a million voices smashed into my brain, wailing and shouting with anger as the haunted spirits tried to talk to me all at once. Over my time in Konohagakure hospital I had learnt to push the voices out of my head since they would just harass me during a major operation I would be working on or trying to complete paper rounds. Somehow, the dead decided that they could come to me whenever they wanted and not only had I found it very rude but also draining. It hadn't been much of a bother when I was living my old nomadic life style but when I had tasks that involved saving people, then the ghosts were determined to have their pleads put first. Still, I wouldn't have just blocked them out all together as I did try to help them by giving them a shoulder to cry on or helping to pass a message on to a grieving family so the spirit could pass on. But right now it was a whole entire different scenario. They were all hammering at my head at once trying to get me to listen to all of them. I had never felt spirits this aggressive before, it was like something I had never experienced in my lifetime and even though I knew it wouldn't help I tried to cover my ears in hopes that the screaming would diminish to some extent.

_GO AWAY! _I screamed at them from inside my head as that was the only way to communicate with the ghosts in this situation, as they were making it hard to concrete on anything else at the moment let alone the ability to use my tongue.

_HELP US! SAVE US! _They continued to roar, despite my pleading for them to quieten so that I might be able to think. But still they continued and since I did not help them instantly their strength multiplied as if they were using a battering ram to crack my skull open

_LEAVE! OH SO HELP ME KAMI I WILL STRIKE YOU ALL DOWN INTO THE UNDERWORLD! _I bluffed as the pain was becoming too much but nevertheless it worked and soon all the pressure was lifted. As soon as they were gone it was like the pain never existed and I felt almost normal again. Finally I was able to concentrate on the worried voice of my father who was shaking me a little in order to open my eyes.

"I'm okay." I breathe and I could feel the tension in my dad's body realise as his grip loosen slightly. After a moment I was able to get rid of the white spots in my line of vision and focus clearly again. It seems I have a lot more work to do than expected, I thought to myself, as I added it to my checklist of stuff to do while I was here. Maybe I wouldn't be back in time for Minato's birthday after all, sadness grip me like a heavy weight had been placed on my chest as I thought of the depressing idea that stalked my mind.

"Told you the old hag would curse you." Oki pointed out with a small mocking grin on her face. My opal coloured eyes darken at the child; now I had enough.

"I always been able to hear the dead, just because they've given me a bit of a headache doesn't mean I'm curse so you can take your supernatural beliefs and shove them up your...!" I had to stop my rant because the second time that day my father had to slap his hand around my mouth to get me to stop talking. Oki just looked at me with a shocked expression on her face like she had not been expecting the outburst for some reason; obviously this girl was not used to being shouted at. The frown I had suddenly changed from the small girl to my dad; this was beginning to form into a bad habit.

"Maybe we should go and meet the other doctors now; we don't want to make them anymore angry with us for being late do we?" He suggested to everyone in hope that the subject would help people to focus on what they were here for. And whose fault is it that we're late! I wanted to scream at him but instead just bit my tongue and waited for his gloved hand (next time I decided that I was going to bite him) to move away. I only nodded as we allowed Kanda to escort us to the main tent.

The whole area was busy with doctors and volunteers from the village checking medical documents, supplies and moving in and out of the tent to check on patients. We had to move quickly through the crowd of researchers as we were taken to meet the main people in charge of the whole operation. They were found in the centre of all the chaos on a circular shaped platform that had been built with tables that had many people reading through huge piles of books and writing notes of anything that could be useful information on curing the disease, along with a few other scientists that were looking through microscopes and also anthologists who seemed to be studying some organs they had taken out of the dead bodies. I could feel my dad tense beside me. The man did not like anything that had to do with hospitals, whether they were based in proper buildings or in made shift tents, the man was impossible when the time came for him to get his check-ups. I and my father were guided to a round table that had been placed in the middle which had a number of men and women surrounding it, debating over something. Kanda coughed at least three times to try and get their attention but whatever they were arguing about was pretty heated.

"May I present Kakashi Hatake and Nariko Haruno from Konohagakure!" The young man had to shout over all the arguing. Finally the group of doctors seemed to notice that someone else had arrived and looked over their shoulders to us. Both I and dad bowed respectfully to the men and women that surrounded the table.

"You're late." One croaky voice spoke out as we stood back up. The source came from an ancient looking man who was the only one sitting in a chair and had a solid oak cane in front of him to support himself as he leaned forward to examine us. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see dad about to make up some kind of terrible excuse and quickly kicked him in the leg.

"I'm afraid our journey was delay by unforeseen actions." I muttered quickly and wondered how I managed to come up with such rubbish, the truth why we were so late compared to everyone else was because dad wanted to see the new movie of icha icha violence. Which led to me getting side track to a woman who was having a difficult birth, resulting in us having to stay a couple of extra days so that I could nurse the woman and her child back to full health. The man's eyes narrowed at me as he looked at me questionably, like he was trying to remember something from a long time ago but seemed unable to place where. The whole room was still around their area as the old man continued to stare at me.

"I thought I recognised the name and the pink hair, you were only a toddler the last time I saw you." The man commented and I couldn't help just stare at him with a puzzled look on my face.

"We've met before sir?" I asked since I could not think of anything else to say at the moment. The village elder made a low chuckle that spoke of hidden mischief from a youth lost long ago as the old man looked like he was thinking of an old memory.

"Yes! fourteen and a half years ago to be precise, you had just started learning how to walk and your mother was having trouble healing my sick grandchild and stopping you wondering off into the woods, I remember you always brought back wounded animals and begged your good old ma to heal them." He chuckled once again at the old memory and I could feel my cheeks turning bright red from embarrassment; I wished I had never asked. It was true, when I was very young I kept wondering into the woods to explore and always found little animals that were sick, I always guessed it was my childhood version of playing doctor but instead of using toys I used real animals. "Now let's get back to business." The old man suddenly turned serious once again and gestured both of us closer to the table; our tardiness forgotten. My eyes quickly landed on a young handsome looking man at the table, who had tanned skin, gold eyes and brown hair with flecks of gold high lights. Noticing that I was looking at him he gave me a warm smile, showing off brilliant white teeth. I returned one back. My attention was quickly diverted when the old man started introducing everyone. First he introduced himself as, Kimiko the village leader. Then he indicated to all the other doctors of the village then lastly the foreign medics who had come here to help like I had done and their bodyguards. From the village hidden in the clouds was Dr Kuro Tanaka and her body guard Darui, then the village hidden in the mist Dr Shinobu Saibon and his body guard, (the good looking man from before) Arashi Inoue, from the village hidden in the sand Dr Jun Kinu and his companion Akira Hikage –who I knew very well because they came and visited the village all the time since the two villages were close allies- and finally from the village hidden in the in the rocks Dr Kei Hara and Mika Lee. From then on it was all business. I listened intently as I could to the situation at hand and registered notes inside my brain. Despite what I had seen on the village streets, a major clean up protocol had been put into place to clean up the village. For once dad was able to show a bit of dignity and reframe himself from reading his stupid orange book at the meeting as we discussed what was going on.

The hospital wing was not a pretty sight. Men and women lay, strapped to their beds with mittens and other glove like items placed on their hands to stop them from tearing at their flesh. Some of the patients were lucky; they only had a few shallow cuts on their faces which would probably disappear over a period of time. It was the first people to be stuck with the disease that she was afraid to see. Dr Kuro was a very hard looking woman in her forties, with dark coloured skin, sharp features that made her look mean and was half a foot shorter than me. Now, I had always been raised to not judge people by the way they look but in this situation the woman's appearance was only a warning to what she was really like. As soon as the meeting with the other doctors had gone over the research they performed, the old woman made it her task to point out my flaw. Apparently, young age was unacceptable to be placed in such a high rank position.

"You better be prepared girl because even people with experience have fainted at the site of the bodies." The woman snapped over her shoulder and I had to use all my might to not kick the woman out the window. The old bat had made it clear that she spotted one flaw against you then you were branded on her list for life; I had a strange feeling I was somewhere near the top at the moment. For me it was age, the woman could not expect the fact that the great village hidden in the leaves had sent a teenager to do a grown-ups job. I had a childish feeling to stick my tongue at her back but the woman seemed to have eyes out the back of her head. Every time we walked past someone or a person walked out of a room behind us she always seemed to be able to point out some flaw, which ranged from talking to the person next to them up to if a person had a coffee in their hands.

**Crazy bitch has got a stick up her ass.**

Oh Kami not you again! I thought I finally got rid of you.

**You thought that last time I reappeared and yet here I am.**

So why have you decided to pop up this time?

**That stupid bitch is annoying me and I need someone that will take my frustration without consequence.**

That's not fair.

**I know, being the same person really does that for you. **

So what's your deal with this woman anyway?

**I don't like her, I don't like her looks, I don't like her personality and I don't like that big fat…!**

"Please concentrate Dr Haruno we don't have much time to waste!" Kuro ordered as they made their way through a quiet section of the hospital. I pushed away my inner self so I could focus on what might lay ahead. I needed to mentally prepare myself from what this woman was about to show me. If what I had read in the reports was true then it was going to be quite a gruesome site. Finally we descended down a flight of stairs that led down to the lower levels were the morgue was held. It didn't matter which hospital you went to all morgues had a familiar flare to them, the cold air, the darken corridors and worse of all the smell of death. For what seemed like an eternity walking down a shadowed covered hallway, we stop at a door on the far side. Pushing it open, the woman stepped aside to allow me access first. Placing a blank façade up I took a deep breath and walked into the room; it was not a pretty site at all.


	9. The first attack

Old fart, I cursed in my head as I check over the patients I had been given. I think she was pissed that I had been completely professional around the dead bodies and had acute assumptions about them. What I didn't understand why she was like this, we were supposed to be here to help these people and she could only think of it as some competition. At least I know where my properties lie; I smiled as I un-wrapped the bandages from one of my patient's chest. Though my face quickly went back to a stern expression when I saw the deep gashes in his skin. I went to work instantly and soon the red, swollen cuts disappeared. Three patients down, I smiled as I gave the nurse instructions to follow and went on; thirty-seven to go.

Somewhere around the area I could feel my dad's charka securing the surrounding area as he was with some of the other body guards to go over the details and to catch up with an old friend he had served with in the fourth shinobi war; Darui I think his name was. With a deep sigh I stretched my aching muscles as I made my way for my tent that night. Everything was going so well on the way back to the tent until I bumped into someone.

"Easy cupcake! No need to rush." The good looking body guard from the meeting beamed at me with such a bright smile that I couldn't help but be reminded of one of the dazzling flashes that Uncle Guy would throw at me before going into one of his youth speeches. At least they didn't flash, I thought as I gathered up some of the items I had dropped on the ground.

"Sorry lost in my own thoughts." I shrugged as I held out my hand to him. "The names Nariko Haruno."

"Arashi Inoue and I hear you've already got on the wrong side of Dr Kuro." Grabbing my hand and shaking it firmly with a wolf's smile that reminded me of an animal out for a hunt. It was a common expression I had seen my summon (Wakana) on her face when we were out hunting together – this man was defiantly someone to watch out for when I was around.

"Is it ever possible not to get on that woman's bad side?" I asked, since I had noticed the woman was not nice to anyone, not even her patients. The body guard was silent as he thought my question through his mind.

"Now that you mention it no I don't think there is." He mused to himself and I could not help but laugh.

It was on the fourth day at our arrival at the village that the bandits attacked. Now I could see why the village people were always on edge all the time because there was no sign of their presence until they actually attacked. Working in the hospital, I had not known what the source of the explosion was until some of the army units came in and announced that all participants be moved into the lower basements of the hospital for their own safety. If only Minato was here, I couldn't help but think inside my head as everyone got into pairs and began lifting the sick to safety. His ability to multiply himself into a thousand copies would have been helpful in moving the patients easier and quicker but right now we just had to deal with what resources we had.

"You two get to that man and take him!" I ordered two of the young nurses who were just standing around unsure about what they should be doing. Apart of them seemed relieved to have someone younger than them giving those orders as they quickly followed my instructions and took the patient, followed by myself and one of the other assistants carrying our own victim. All we could hear were the sounds of the intense battle going on outside as we moved everyone down to the lower sections. It was becoming impossible moving around as there weren't many spaces in the lower levels and too many patients. These can't be regular bandits? I wondered to myself. I didn't know how many there were but the largest bandit attack I had ever come across was about thirty five and apart from a few combat moves they had no extreme training; so why was the fighting taking so long and more importantly why was it so vicious. Every fibre of my body wanted nothing more than to jump into the heat of battle with the men out there and help but I knew what I could offer was more needed down here then out there. As I worked, my ears strained to listen to soldiers running in and out and passing on information to see if there were any hints or clues I could pick out about the battle but so far my knowledge was limited. A sudden explosion of the wall close by suddenly collapsed and the whole room was covered in heavy dust.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen." A sarcastic voice greeted us from the entrance of the hole but my ears stung with too much grit, making it impossible to get a proper look at them. I forced my eyes to go watery as I began to flush out the bacteria. "I hope you don't mind but we will be taking a few of your medicines and women to heal out satisfaction." The leader of this small intrusion force shouted out and the sudden screams of young woman could be held as they we plucked from their spots and dragged back out the hole. No! I thought fiercely as I battled my way through the cloud and without thinking went after them.

Missing-nin! I knew there was something else behind it! I acknowledge, as my foot went into the back of the head of the closest man. As his head crashed to the follow, I could see the slashed out symbol of his headband. Only one of the men heard the commotion behind him and turned to face me, dropping the woman he was holding on to the ground as he went for me. I ducked at his punch to my head and aimed a scissor kick at his leg. The man jumped backwards to dodge it but I was fast after him and aimed another kick to his stomach, sending him flying into the trees behind him.

"Get back to the hospital!" I called the woman behind me as I charged after the rest. There was no way I could let them get away with the supplies, the hospital was already low on materials and losing just a few could be devastating. Performing a few hand signs I summon Wakana for assistance and with her nose hot on the trail we proceeded on. Jumping from tree to tree with the help of my charka infused feet, I soon caught up with the rest of the bandits. There was only one other woman with them and she was screaming her head off at them so loudly, that most of them didn't hear my kunai cutting through the air and aimed at their backs. But luck was not on my side as they suddenly jumped down and the echoes of my weapons hitting the tree trunks set them off. They all looked back to see I was quickly gaining along with my giant white wolf growling angrily at them. With one giant pounce, Wakana leapt and tackled one of them as I went for the man still holding his prize.

"Have her! She's yours!" He shouted and dropped the woman. The nurse screamed as she fell through the trunks. Diving down after her, I managed to catch her just in time before she hit the ground.

"Stay here!" I ordered, since it was too dangerous to walk back to the hospital by herself. Leaping back into action I left the care of the other man to my summon as I went after the man since I hadn't failed to notice the large brown bag on his shoulder that looked full of goodies he had stolen. The man was faster than I expected as he already travelled a long way before I was able to catch up with him. Deciding not to run any more the bandit turned and threw a bunch of kunai at me. I was able to dodge them easily as I dove down. Grabbing on to a branch I swung myself up until the heel of my boots connected with his jaw and sent him flying. However, the missing-nin was quick to recover his footing and we entered a game of metal slashing against metal as we attacked and blocked one another. I lost balance for a second when he drove a foot into my knee and began falling backwards. Quickly, I sent charka to my feet and found myself standing beneath him as my feet hang on with dear life to the wooden surface. It was a good thing it happened to as in the next moment I witness the bandit fall from the tree with kunai stuffed in his chest.

"A little far from the hospital aren't you." A high pitched voice joked behind me as I settle myself up right to face Mika. With her cat like grace the small girl jump side me as we looked over the branch.

"Hey even I need a little bit of action every now and again." I pretended to moan as we jumped down on to the ground to where the body lay. A quick examination was enough to determine the cause of death. "Broken neck in three places, you're weapon cut into his nervous system enough to mess up his system and unable to react quick enough to stop the fall." I informed her as I took the bag from his shoulder and checked it to find a selection of medical supplies.

"Never seen a doctor kick ass like you before." Mika smiled as played with one of her kunai.

"Thanks for the comment and for the assistance." I smiled back, not knowing I had just pulled myself into another friendship.

Mika and I could only stand and listen to Dr Kuro complain about my unprofessional behaviour once we turned back to camp. Not even the mean look that Wakana sent her sent to frighten the woman. I only stood there and grounded my teeth together as the woman's high pith wail continued to echo across the nation. For some reason, Mika stood beside me as she picked dirt from her nails. I didn't know why until half way through Dr Kuro lecture.

"Yo bitch! If it weren't for her you would of lost to nurses and important medical supplies, not to mention her hound was able to bring back one of the missing-nin back alive to question, so shut your hole and thank her!" The ninja from the village hidden in the rocks swore back at her. I knew there was a reason I liked this girl, I thought, trying to stop the smile that was threatening to so on my face. The older woman could only look at the five foot one ninja in shock before cursing the girl's rudeness for authority. Thankfully, we were saved by dad and his buddy Darui coming up to us.

"Kuro, your screeching is so dull. Why don't you turn your attention back on to your patients?" The doctor's bodyguard suggested. With an annoyed look written on her face the older woman stormed off. We waited forever until the woman as out of ear shot before I and Mika began laughing her heads of. Who knew the woman's pouting expression could look so funny.

"Sorry for the doctor behaviour, she doesn't like anyone that outshines her." Darui apologised on his partners behalf.

"No wonder the woman's pissed all the time." A voice muttered somewhere in the distance and we all looked to see Arashi leaning against the wall showing off one of his dazzling smiles. "Every single person I bumped into has the ability to outshine her."

"True. But remember she still is the hidden cloud number one medic for a reason." Darui was quick to point out but the young body guard just shrugged him off.

"So which one of you fine ladies will be accompying me to dinner tonight." Arashi beamed as he circled to strong arms around mine and Mika's waist. I didn't need to look up to see my dad giving the man an evil glare; you could feel it. Though the young man didn't seem to notice or was too stupid to ignore my father's warnings.

"I'll go, only if you provide entertainment for later." Mika was bold to suggest and Arashi sent her a wink, a sign that he was more than happy to fulfil her demands.

"Not me thanks, there's a nice comfy bed that awaits my attention back in my tent." I politely refused and untangled my hip away from his hands. If I hadn't done it dad would have probably punched him into the ground right now, as the waves of anger were so intense that even Darui took a step away from the silver haired shinobi. Both of the other bodyguards just shrugged as they said goodbye and went off for dinner. "Come on guys, let's go and get something to eat." I smiled as I wrapped my small arms around my dad's and Darui and directed them towards the cafeteria.


	10. Repeated Dreams

_The passage was dark. I could feel the water from the surface as the cold water dripped from the ceiling and on to my creamy skin. I could hear my dad calling behind me but I chose to ignore it, since my thoughts were focused on the song, which I seemed to be the only one to hear. The angelic music bounced off the walls and hit me straight in the face but some kind of force kept me going forward. I climbed the walls furiously but even with the help of my charka, my hands were still covered in blood from the sharp rocks because the walls were just too slippery to get a good grip. As I climb higher and higher, fathers' voice began to disappear and the music became stronger. It took me quite a while before I was able to find some kind of hole in the surface. Pulling myself up I notice some kind of glittering in the distance. Checking that that tunnel was big enough for me to crawl through, I made my way through it until I reached the other end. As soon as I stood up in the large cave my mouth dropped. Bright stones sparkle in the cave walls, shining beautiful lights across the ceiling. However, what really caught my dark eyes was the sword that floated in the middle of the room. I rubbed my eyes and look back at it again, I recognised the sword instantly. For some reason I wasn't shocked like I thought I would be. Slowly, I began to make my way closer to the sword, reaching my hand out to touch it. As soon as flesh and metal connected, power between the two objects burned, as energy built up between us before a large explosion sent me into the darkness. _

The dream was so vivid that for a second I thought the room I had woken up in was the dream. A simple pinch on the arm cleared that all up but the feeling of anxiety knotted in my belly still hung in the air. Swiping the sweat off my face I got myself prepared for the day's activities ahead. I haven't had that dream in a while… in fact I've never had the same dream twice before, I thought to myself as I stared at the wide eye person in the mirror before attending to my other duties. It had been a week since the second bandit attack that had followed the next day after the first and only a few improvements had happened. Dr Jun and I had worked day and night to create a potion that calmed the muscles of the patients enough for them to stop trying to rip their eyes out. Making my way towards the town centre, I noticed a big commotion happening in the town centre.

"What's going on?" I shouted to the closet villager who was running by me. They stopped for a second to look at me with a confused expression on their face.

"Didn't you know? A group of ninja's from your village have volunteered their services to helping us." The civilian beamed wildly as he made his way towards the commotion. Leaf ninja! Here? My brain struggled to come to terms with the new knowledge and soon I was on my toes as I ran full blast towards the centre. Pushing my way through the crowd of people I saw the village head and my father discussing with the three shinobi who wore jonin level clothing. My heart swept in joy when I saw who stood in the centre. The tall blonde was the first to realise my presence. Running towards each other, Minato swept me up into a large hug and twirled me around in circles and was soon joined by two other people.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked as soon as we stopped the group hug.

"Kakashi sent a report to dad and he thought the situation was more dangerous than he anticipated with missing-nin about and thought you could use some back up." Itachi informed and I could be happy for more than two reasons. One was that this village desperately needed more help and second was that I had friends around.

"How was your birthday?" I asked, sad that I had missed it but wanted to know the details anyway.

"It was good and I thank you for the apartment you brought me all paid for and everything." Minato smiled back at me. A deep weight was lifted off my chest when he said that, I hoped he had liked his present which the man would never have guessed when I handed Aunty Hinata the envelope with the documents in it. One the other hand who was crazy not to love an apartment that was about a million yen which had a beautiful view of the village, a hot tub and the most awesome game system in the world; but in all honesty, that last one I had put in their for my own amusement for every time I visited. We spent the next hour half hour catching up on what's been going on in each other's lives before I called to the hospital to start my day shifts.

"Man! The woman's scarier than Tsunade in a bad mood." Nene grumbled ten hours later as I and my friends sat in our small group near one of the forest openings, eating their small portion dinners. Even though I had tried to warn them about Dr Kuro, Itachi could not keep his curious mind at bay and went to seek the crazy doctor out. A cold shiver crawled down my back at the memory of the woman's temper. At least it was a warning of what I had to watch out for if I ever crossed her in the wrong way. Slumping back against the trunk I shoved some instant ramen in my mouth.

It had been a long time since I and my dad had some alone time together. So as we both left the village and headed north to inspect the mountain river leading into the village wells, it gave us some time to catch up on each other's lives and shared information about what we had learned about the village and other ninja's.

"Did Itachi really do that?" Kakashi called down to her as he jumped on one of the other branches above her head. The shinobi had already had heard rumours of the fierce doctors bad temper but had yet to come across the woman face to face himself, since he spent most of his time one patrol with most of the other guards around the village falls. Jumping up, I grabbed on to one of the branches higher up and swung myself around until I was on top. Now I and dad were on the same level, so now it was much easier to talk without having to shout.

"Yes, even though I told him not to." I swore back and Kakashi only performed a humble laugh in response. Most of our journey was quiet apart from the small talk we passed sometimes but being social wasn't one of our strong points. As we dashed through the mist of trees I couldn't help but have a strange familiar feeling about this place. I ignored the feeling all the way to the river when a memory shot into my mind. As we both landed gracefully on our feet like professionals, I scanned the place to see if my mind hadn't been playing tricks on me but I knew I had seen this exact same place before. The grey rocky surface, the giant waterfall and the green grass was all the same. "I've been here before." I said out loud in a quiet whisper that the silver man would not of been able to hear me if it wasn't for his good hearing and the fact he was standing right beside me.

"The village leader had said you used to explore the forest when you were a child." Father pointed out but I found it strange that a two year old had been able to make it all the way from the village to the river, since it was quite a hike for a normal person to travel here. Still, it was the only logical explanation at the moment and decided to put my mind to work as I got my equipment out and began testing the water out, using alkalis and acids to see if anything was out of the ordinary. An hour went by and I had tested every chemical I had on my personal; none of them change in the slightest.

"Well, whatever causing it it's not in the water." I conclude placing the samples I had taken into a carrying scroll and setting it into my backpack.

"I'm not sure if that's a bad or a good thing." Kakashi mumbled to himself and I nodded in agreement. The virus wasn't coming from the water, narrowing the possibilities but we still had a lot of things to go through still. A chirping noise from the tree tops had caught my attention, it was huge, with pure white feathers, dark eyes and a yellow beak that looked like it was gold from the blinding sunlight. This strange creature was the first animal I had seen in ages. Strange? I thought to myself as I walked towards it to get a closer look but as I reached the bottom of the tree it took off. "Nariko what are you doing?" My father asked and I turned to answer him until I heard something else; music. Though I had heard this music before but I failed to remember where it came from.

"Do you hear that?" I questioned, turning around and searched the area for anyone or anything causing it. My father walked up beside me and from the expression on his face he was straining his ears to hear something.

"I don't hear anything." He answered and I just looked at him like he was nuts.

"Are you kidding me? How can you miss it?" I cursed, as I walked to where I thought the music was coming from. I could only guess that my father was giving me a strange look, as I placed my ear among the surface of the cliff top and followed the beautiful sound into the mouth of the cave. Shielding my arms above my head as I tried to protect myself from the thundering water that splashed onto my head, now totally wet. The sound was louder in here and it sounded like it came from the large hole. Crossing the surface of the water floor I made my way over to it. It looks just big enough to crawl through, I thought to myself and that's when it finally hit me. No way! This can't be my dream! My mind raced in shock and wonder at the thought, it would explain why the dream reappeared to me last night. Possibly it was trying to warn me that it was close to happening. There was only one way to find out.

"Nariko! What are you doing?" My father cried out again (I had not notice his presence follow me in here) as I began climbing.

"I need to check something!" I told him firmly as I disappeared into the hole.

I could hear my father voice echo through the tunnel as I continued to climb. I knew he would not be able to climb up here himself as I was barely making it through and he had much bigger shoulders. As I climbed higher, the music grew stronger and the sound of my dad's warnings of grounding me slowly vanished. The journey was not an easy one as I had to remind myself to try and breathe properly all the time through the narrow gap and ignore the burning sensation of pain and I forced myself to grip the sharp rocks. Finally, I soon came to a small light and pushed myself through the whole. However, unlike my dream I had not been warned that the exit was a metre away from the fall and ended up falling at a funny angle on my shoulder. Stupid! I cursed as I attempted brushed of the dust and dirt from my clothes only to smear the material in blood. Finally, I looked up and there it was. Hovering in the light, the sword floated in the air. Its blade smooth and sharp with its black, wing-shaped handle sparkled in the light. The music continued as I made my way over to the blade, my arm out stretched automatically as I made my way over to it. Only when I was an inch away with it did I see the strange symbols engraved in it. I've never seen this language before, I wondered to myself as I place my hand on the handle. Suddenly, a burning pain scorched my hand and I screamed. Pulling my hand away was no use as it suddenly became stuck. The same symbols of the blade began curling its way up my arm, leaving tattoo like images on my flesh. I continued to fight as I tried to get my hand to release but it would just not work. Before I knew it my whole body was covered in it and the pain only grew stronger. Before I knew it light span from where I stood before it exploded, sending me flying across the room. I black out when my head crashed against the wall.

Splash! The sound echoed through my head. Splash! Again, but this time I felt something light drop on to my cheek. I stir and let out a small moan but I don't have the energy to move and check what it is. After a while on just lying there I open my eyes to the inside of the cave again. It still looked the same, apart from the fact that the floating sword was now gone. Pushing myself into a sitting position, I checked myself over. Most of my body was covered with blood and dirt but when I finally did a medical check on myself I was glad to discover I only had a few cuts and bruises with a slight bump on my head. I'm getting the hell out of here! I told myself, not caring where the bloody sword went and focused my attention on getting the hell out of this nightmare. Making my way over to the hole I had climbed from I discovered that the surface was too slippery in here to climb; I was going to have to find another way. It felt like an eternity searching the cave for a way out but was sad to find out that if I wanted to get out I needed to climb through the hole that was letting the light in and there was no way of being able to do that that. I had no resources, no jutsu that could fly me out of her and no friend to help. There was only one thing I could do.

"Hello!" I shouted, my voices bouncing off the walls. "Can anyone hear me?" For a long time I shouted as loud as my voice would allow but no one came.

**Why not try using your Spirit Search Jutsu you dumbass! **

I could only stand there in shock as I took in what inner me said before slapping myself on the forehead. Sometimes I really could be stupid. Settling myself back on to the floor I closed my eyes and relaxed my body, as I allowed my spirit to take off.


	11. The Sword

It didn't take me long to find help. It's seems dad had pulled the small Konohagakure back-up group from whatever they had just been doing to assist him on finding me. I hadn't meant to yank on Itachi jacket so hard that the man fell backwards on to the ground and set the whole group on alert. After turning my spirit into a more physical form so they could see it was just me, they followed me to the opening that was my only resource of sunlight. As soon as my sprit was back in my body I was able to move myself into the light of the opening. Even though it was quite a distance between the ground that I stood on and the hole that led to the surface I was still able to see the beaming white teeth of Minato Uzumaki. Securing myself to the rope that dangled down from me I allowed myself to be pulled to the surface to be joined by a group of smiling friends and stern looking father.

"I have so much to tell you guys." I managed to breathe out after the massive group hug I received, getting blood, dirt and other things on their clothes. "But first I need a bath."

A sigh of relief escaped my throat as I dipped myself into the warm bath I had set up for myself. Before I had even sunk in to the warm soapy water, the clear colour was replaced by a mixture of dirt and blood. I only stayed in their long enough to clean my body and then dumped a bucket over my head to wash my hair. By now I should have learned that taking a bath was impossible because it was hard to relax with the amount of grim I kept seeing swim around the water; especially if I was on missions. Re-dressing myself in the spare set of clothes, I felt myself able to breathe again; I set myself to work on mending the small wounds I had gained and getting rid of the large bump that was beginning to form on my head. I look a little better at least? I wondered to myself as I stared at the mirror to see a new clean and mended self. A strand of hair began tickling my nose and I lifted my hand up to brush it away when I notice something. Oh I missed one! I first thought, thinking I had missed out of the scratches on my wrist. But when I pulled the material off my sleeve, I could not help but gasp at the image that had been left. It was not a scratch that had been left on my skin but a burn. Thankfully, it still looked flesh and would be easy to heal. Instantly her index finger turned green and she placed it on burn. A cooling sensation began to feel her skin but as time went by, the burn refused to mend. What? I worried as I inspected the mark closer. Oh you have to be kidding me! I eyed the image with strong distaste. It was the stupid symbol of the two wings that she had seen everywhere and now it had embedded itself on to my hand.

After half an hour of explaining to everyone what had happened in the cave she was left with four different expressions. Itachi's mouth twitch as he was eager to find out more and was desperate to ask questions, Nene seemed a little worried, Minato strangely had no expression on his face whatsoever and my father… it was borderline between locking me in the strongest vault he could find or about to blow his head off. The symbol on many wrist itch and I could not help but scratch it continuously, the sensation was burning and it annoyed me like hell. Nene was the first to break the silence.

"I don't understand why this image of the sword keeps following you around and no one else." The Hyuga mumbled out loud, her pupilless eyes filled with concern. That makes two of us! I wanted to shout out loud better was more focus on trying to stop the itchy feeling that was burning in my skin.

"Maybe it has something to do with the prophecy that Danzo mentioned?" Itachi considered and the whole atmosphere went icy. The man's name usually did that when it was mention, it was like a taboo to say among the fire nation people, the man had done so much evil and left a lot of pain to heal. The silence was finally brought to a halt when Nene slapped her boyfriend on the back of the head. "There's no need for such violence woman!" He moped, only to receive a second slap just so she could prove a point to him.

"What I want to know is why has the song been reaching out for you and then suddenly disappeared?" Minato inquired with his own thoughts. Thinking of the sword made the throbbing vein of my forehead intensified as I itched the burn more. Stupid sword! I cursed, all my negative thoughts directed towards the sword. I could clearly see it in my mind, the long blade engraved with strange symbols, the black handle that looked almost like smooth obsidian and the large black diamond in the centre of the hilt. In fact the more I thought about it the more I could feel it! It's weight, it's balance and it's power. Yet I could not understand how I knew because apart from the slight touch on the handle I had not once inspected it or even held it probably. In fact, right now I could imagine it laying in my right hand at this moment.

"Nariko! How did you do that?" Nene voiced suddenly rang through the room and the day dream she had was lost, the sword disappeared in a flash as quickly as it had appeared. Looking up I could see everyone cautiously staring at me.

"Huh?" Was all I could say as I was a little confused?

"You just had a sword in your hand!" Itachi backed his girlfriend up quickly. I was soon able to wrap my head around what they were saying. Had I just summoned a sword and didn't even realised? Thinking about it I placed the idea in my list of top ten weirdest things I done but it was nowhere near the top; I should have expected it really. Out of interest I tried to do it again. Focusing all my thoughts on the sword and tried to conjure up the same feelings I had before. Within seconds I had the sword in the grip of my hands.

"It's certainly very pretty!" Minato joked but his face soon turned fearful when he saw me playing with it, testing out it's swiftness and sharpness. I smiled happily as I did it, feeling like I had once lost my right arm and finally had it back again; in fact, if I dare say it, it was like I had found a lost friend.

Dad was still very unhappy with me and had left the meeting without saying another word. His cold ignorance had struck me deep but I knew he didn't mean it. It was strange how Uncle Naruto used to say he was the most un-emotionless man you could ever come across before I came back to the village. But right now he seemed unable to control anything. For now I decided it was best to let him cool off and talk with him later. At the moment, I and Itachi sat alone in the room, waiting for Minato and Nene to bring back food for us. Itachi had wanted to stay and look at the sword so he could examine it a bit longer. However… he soon revealed that he had other intentions to be alone with her.

"Nariko, can I show you something?" He asked out of the blue as we were trying to make imprints of the patterns on to paper, so we didn't have to push me sword into people's faces and ask 'have you seen these marks before?' Finishing off one of the sides I was working on, I told him to go ahead and watched as he began rummaging through his pockets. Finally, he pulled out a small box and opened to reveal a silver band with a large diamond in the centre.

"Itachi, is… is that what I think it…" I couldn't finish the sentence; this was more shocking then me able to conjure up a magical katana.

"I know it's all sudden but I can't imagine my life without her and lately we've been talking about having a family one day and our parents were around the same age…" I had to wave my hand in front of his face to stop him losing his tongue.

"And you're telling me this because…" I wanted him to get to the point (plus my girly side was looking to the moment Nene would tell me and start making wedding plans) I saw his eyes wonder around nervously as he tried to think of what to say.

"I wanted an opinion I could trust, do you think I being crazy for evening considering this? Should I wait a little while longer?" The shocking thing about this was that I was the one he was coming to for love advice. Me! Of all the people we knew he was asking me! I looked up in the wide dark eyes, seeing the complete trust the he was holding towards my judgement. For some reason I couldn't help but feel I was being given the most important mission of my life.

"I not actually an expert but I all I can say is that you've got one life and it's short, especially as a shinobi. So I say go ahead, marry the girl you love and enjoy it." I shrugged and before I had a chance to say anything else I was swooped into a bear hug. Despite his skinny frame, he was as strong as an ox and could easily crush a person's bones like a fly-swatter killing bugs.

"Thank you Nariko!" He spoke with such happiness that I couldn't help but give myself a secret pat on the back for a job well done.

When I entered the hospital the following morning, my head felt like it was going to explode. I was tempted to drown down some aspirin but since the hospital was low on supplies so I decided to power through. Though my whole opinion changed when I entree the healing ward and saw something completely terrifying. Hanging over all the patients, these translucent ghosts like figures with sharp metal teeth and narrow dark eyes. All of them were laughing their heads off as they poked and prodded their poor victims with deadly spears. Every time they attacked the person, the victim would try and tear at the flesh. Please don't tell me I'm the only one who can see all of this?

**Judging everyone's strange behaviour I think they haven't notice yet.**

Thank you for your valuable input.

**Yeah, yeah, yeah… What are you waiting for go and kick some ass already? **

Oh yes I can just imagine myself punching and kicking invisible people. That's just…

At the moment, something happened. It was kind of like I was remembering something that you had forgotten, kind of like when you have amnesia and you've just suddenly remember a very important memory. It was some kind of ninjutsu, as I watched the hand seals being formed in my head. Once it was over it disappeared but I didn't forget and I knew it was there whenever I need access to it.

**That could actually work.**

For once I was in agreement with my crazy inner sense and without giving it another thought preformed the hand signs like I was an old pro. Ninja art, spirit screen removal jutsu. A small hiss could be heard and from where I stood. For a second I thought I was just standing there like an idiot in a stupid position. So you can imagine how I felt a little bit guilty when a nurse finally saw one and screamed in horror and let out a cursed word in joy. Everything went into chaos as people tried attacking the things which any success. I think it's time for me to bring out my new little friend. Within seconds my sword was in my hand and I was kicking ghost ass.


	12. From the Frying Pan and into the Fire

The last thing I wanted was to make people think I was crazier than I already was. Swinging a dangerously sharp object in thin air at nothing would give people that idea. But it turns out as soon as the weapon –my weapon- touched them they became visible to the naked eye. It seems to ghosts were more interested from defending themselves from harm was more important than staying hidden from human sight. As soon as the first ghost appeared, the civilians began to panic. They did not help the situation by throwing items at the creature, which would just slide right through the creatures and hit me instead. It wasn't until I sliced the tenth one in half that the others decided to it was time to gang up and fight together. Well that's unfair! I thought a little pissed when I ducked and felt the ends of my hair being cut off. Sadly, I didn't have time to mourn my loss as I had to leap back from metal teeth trying to slice through my flesh. Placing some distance between myself and the ghosts, I surveyed the place around me. During my distraction (example, too busy fighting over hundreds of ghosts all at once) everyone had disappeared; literally everyone; including the patients. I would have to worry about that later, right now I had a dozen ghosts to get rid of first.

"Okay guys, let's make this party a bit more interesting!" I smirked at them and with the sword in one hand and the other producing a swirling sphere of raw purple energy in her other hand. Despite my intentions, the purple energy moved through my body and illuminated my sword as well. A double power boost… I stared at the sword in my hand and examined it quickly. Cool! Running forward, I slashed one ghost in half while the other had its stomach explode when the energy sphere made contact. The other ghosts stared at me in fear before disappearing out of the room. Maybe finding this sword wasn't a bad thing after all, I smiled and willed it away; not only was it useful in a fight against evil spirits but I didn't have to bother carrying it around either. Still I wondered where it disappeared to when I didn't have it with me. The door from the opposite side of the room suddenly sprang open and my friends plus other shinobi came into the room, battle gear out and ready. "Sure! Now you guys decide to show up." I snapped angrily at them. Seeing that there was no danger, everyone relaxed.

"Sorry Nariko but you should have seen the panic outside." Arashi shrugged as he slipped his sword back in to its holder. "We didn't even understand what was happening until one of the nurses managed to calm down and explain… actually we still don't understand what's happening." The bodyguard shrugged and scratched his head as if he was trying to remember something.

"Yeah, see ghosts can be quite hard to explain." I answered while everyone else just stared at me.

An hour later in the shinobi's main headquarters, I had just finished explaining the whole hospital scenario to the main leaders of the investigation. Of course I didn't tell them about how I came across the sword, only that I had just recently discovered that it had the ability to attack spirits while other things didn't. To my surprise, no one tried to interrupt me (though the occasional huff of disapproval from Dr Kuro did prove rather irritating) as I explained the whole situation to the group. Everyone was quiet for a moment, thinking to themselves and looking for any weakness in her story.

"Do you really think we will believe ghosts are behind this?" Dr Kuro accused me, her eyes dark and narrow as they stared right at me, as if she was trying to burn a hole right through my head.

"I'm surprised, for someone that survived the last shinobi war you would be a little more opened minded." I spat back at the old hag. I can see anyone looking at each other as if to say 'she has a point' but still I could see the doubt in their eyes. But they also had to consider that ever since the ghosts disappeared the patients that had been sick with the disease were now completely cured. They also seem to have no recollection of what had happen to them over the following weeks; just they remembered something whispering their ears but they could not remember what, only that they shuddered every time they thought about it.

"Let's just say what you're saying is true." Dr Kinu added to the debate, shushing the two of us up for the time being. "How did they get control of ghosts and why do they attack this village?" The doctor questioned. Those were some very good questions. And there was only one way to find out.

No matter how much I hated it, I forced myself to stay silent. Everyone around the room debated over my side of the events, in the end no one could come to a conclusion. Dad instantly knew something was up. I could tell by his expression when I looked at him quickly and caught him looking straight at me. He was watching me carefully, trying to figure out why I wasn't trying to defend myself. Sending him a quick wink, I turned back to the conversation at hand and listen to all of them argue, I saw his face long enough to see him smile under his mask; he knew I had a plan. All we had to do now was wait for our little group to get back to the safety of our tent and then we could set a plan into motion.

Even though my acting skills are usually crap, I liked to believe I put on a convincing act of looking normal as we made our way back to our tent. Strangely enough as I made my way back to our quarters, the streets looked alive again. Everyone that had been dying at the hospital earlier now looked in perfect health as they helped put the village back together again. Working hard as they helped passed out supplies, mending broken houses and even some of the young man were now back on guard duty. If it weren't for most of the damaged houses and most of the orphaned children running around in their dirty clothes then I would have never believed this town had very brutally attack by bandits and ghosts over the last few weeks. As soon as they were in their tents, Kakashi instantly got to work in putting security seals around the place. Even though the three others didn't understand what was happening, they followed their sensei's actions and placed their own seals along the walls. Since I didn't know a thing about fuinjutsu I went straight to work on finding the bandit's camp.

Making myself comfortable, I crossed my legs and eased my breathing, blocking out all the sounds around; almost as if I had placed myself into a sound proof bubble. It didn't take long for my spirit to leave my body and soon I found myself looking down on the village with a bird's eye view. Now I just had to find the bandit camp. I had learned from experimentation that the ability to suddenly find someone by just thinking of them had been a lucky shot last time I used my ability. It wasn't until my uncle Naruto asked me to track down a wanted rogue ninja. No matter what I tried I could not find him. We soon found out that I could only track people who I had come into contact with. That's how my spirit was able to find my father when I had first experienced this. Now I was annoyed that I had not let one of the bandits go during their last attack. I could have used him to help me find the camp. But since I didn't I was going to have to find these criminals the hard way. Flying east, I flew towards the river. I knew that the bandit camp had to be a water source, every camp, village and city had to be near a water source. I decided to move north of the river first, since the southern part was too close to the cloud bordered where it was heavily guarded by cloud shinobi; north was the best place.

I went higher so I had a wide view of the river on both sides. It would be crazy for them to park too closely to the river as they could easily be discovered but they wouldn't be too far away from it. Plus she couldn't move to far away from the village either. They had to be somewhere close to this village otherwise they would be wasting their time and energy travelling to the place. Come on! Where are you? I thought to myself, pushing myself on. It took me at least over an hour to finally find them. They had been further away from the river then excepted but nevertheless she found them. I memorised their location in my head before zooming back to my body.

When I woke up, I found my dad and my friends all sitting around watching me carefully and waiting patiently for me to tell them what's going on. A sly smile spread across my face.

"I found them."

I stood between my dad and Nene, watching the campsite. I and Kakashi stood guard and watched the Hyuga as she kept track of Minato's and Itachi's movements in the dark. Taking a kunai out of her pouch and tapped the rock with it three times. It was the signal for us to move. Jumping into the trees, I took the lead as we guided our way through the darkness, merging with the night's shadows. We were able to cross the guard barrier without detection and made our way deeper into the camp. It seemed that most of them were asleep, making it easier for them to slip into the main tent. Peeping in through the gap, I could just see one man, looking over various maps and two guards who looked like they were going to fall asleep any second. Looking over at Nene, she gave the signal that the area was clear. We went in quick and clean, Nene and Kakashi taking down the two guards while I went for the big man.

"Explain yourself! How do you have control over the ghosts attacking the village?" I threatened, twisting his arm more behind his back and pressing my kunai harder to his throat. I was expecting some kind of comeback, denial or a plead to spare his life, the last thing I expected him to do was start laughing. I kept my grip firm, not wanting to show that his strange reaction threw me off guard. I did spare a rapid glance over to my dad, hoping that his experience in ANBU might be able to give me some pointers on this situation. Sadly, his face remained completely blank. "Talk! Now!" I demanded, keeping my voice as emotionless as possible. But his laughter only grew louder.

"Silly girl!" The man's voice echoed with an inhuman sound. I didn't know what to do, I suddenly had a really bad feeling about all of this. My mind was made up for me when his head did a one hundred and eighty turned, not moving the rest of his body one bit, his eyes glowing an dangerous red. I stumbled backwards completely shocked. The air was knocked out of my body as an invisible forced hit me in the stomach and sent me flying out of the tent. The next thing I heard were the thuds of Kakashi and Nene landing next to me. We groan as we got back to our feet, feeling like a mountain had just fallen on to them. This sucks! I cursed trying to get myself together. A huge energy burst blew the tent, the surrounding barriers and us away. Once again my back slammed into the ground hard and I had to fight myself back to my feet.

"Dad!" I called out as soon as I pulled myself together and noticed that he wasn't anywhere near me. "Nene!" I called again, unable to see her body through the chaos. As much as I wanted to search for them, my attention was soon distracted when; the leader of the clan came hovering towards me. A dark energy surrounded him, intensifying his sharp features to make him seem more demonic.

"Did you really think that mortals had the power to control demons?" The man laughed. Once again an invisible force slammed into my body. Now I could feel the blood from my cuts slide over my skin and my bruise muscles moaned in protest. "Once I'm done with you, I will kill the rest of your team." He smiled and taking out a kunai from his pocket. Lifting it high and aimed it right at my heart. Instinct took over and before I knew it, metal clashed against metal, using the sword I had summoned to push against his weapon. His words echoed through my mind '_I will kill the rest of your team' _one by one everyone I loved flashed through my mind. Suddenly, I was mad, really mad. No one threaten the people I loved

"You just pissed off the wrong girl." I hissed and with renew strength pushed myself up and threw him off. Okay magic sword, show me what you've got! I prayed to the sword and prepared to battle.


	13. Slay the Beast

Clang! An incredible force exploded when our swords collided. The energies of our blades circled one another, almost as if they were old enemies meeting once again, ready for each other's blood; except in this case, it would be my blood or his. Despite the size of his broad sword, my katana was holding its own. I on the other hand was beginning to feel my feet dig further into the mud. Guiding my sword away, I rolled under his legs. The demon had not yet picked up on my movements and had left his back completely undefended. I slashed at his back but my sword made no noticeable damage against his scaly back. Thankfully, it was enough to make him stagger forward, giving me sometime to examine him and find his weakness. His armour was scaly and hot, almost as if I was staring at the live surface of a volcano. Swooping low, I slammed the sword into the back of his legs, tripping him over. The beast actually screamed in pain as it fell. With it down on the ground I leapt on to his back, swiftly slicing the metal through the flesh and bone. At first nothing happened. But then the head began rolling along the ground, leaving a trail of blood droplets that burnt the ground like it was acid.

Well that was much easier then I had been expecting, I wondered, swiping the dirt away from my face. It was then that I was suddenly afraid that I had jinxed myself and was just waiting for the beast to suddenly spout another head. But nothing happened! Everything had gone quiet; too quiet. That's when I took in the whole landscape. Everything was a wreck. The earth was all tangled up in blood and dirt. The sword vanished from my hand as forgot all about it.

"Dad! Nene!" I screamed, suddenly remembering what had happened to them. "Dad! Nene! Answer me!" But no one was answering. My nails dug through the wreckage of the camp as I searched for them but nothing. Suddenly, someone's arms grabbed me around the middle and pulled me away.

"Nariko, calm down!" Itachi tried to sooth me but all I can think about was my dad and my friend. I hadn't realised that I had even been crying when a blonde blur appeared in front of me. Fearing it was another demon, I kicked and slashed at its direction trying to get it away but the Uchiha held me back. Soft fingers wiped the water away from my eyes to reveal Minato's face, still a bit blurry but much more noticeable then before. All my muscles went numb and fell into his arms. What is wrong with me? I thought as I tried to calm myself down. I needed to find my team and yet I was having an emotional breakdown when they needed me the most.

"Just take a deep breath Nariko." Minato whispered into my ear, calming me while I silenced my sobs. I followed his instructions, instantly feeling a little better. "Close your eyes and focus." I did, focusing all my efforts on my breathing, feeling myself slip into a mediated state. Slowly, my mind began to drift out, searching the land.

"I've got them." I stated, forcing myself back into serious mode. Yes I had detected that they were still alive but they also had a few injuries from the blast. Immediately, the three of us went searching for the other two. Minato and Itachi found Nene unconscious under some rumble and Kakashi somehow got half his body embedded into the earth. Digging him out wasn't actually a treat either. I may be a ninja but I have the same clean needs as everyone else. Just like Nene the blast had knocked him unconscious and it took me a while to revive him. "Are you alright?" I knew if he said okay that he was lying because I was sure I could see stars floating around in his eyes. But he never said anything. All he did was give me his usual eye crinkle. Green energy glowed from my hands as I began examining his body, fixing any injuries he had obtained. With the worse of the injuries fixed I was able to turn my attention to Nene, who's breathing was a bit too slow for my liken, not to mention she had her intestines falling out of his stomach. It was only when I had fixed Nene up did the group travel back to camp.

As soon as we got back to the tiny village we could tell that a massive party was happening. The village was ablaze with celebration. Old men were swaying around the bars, downing all they could drink like their lives depended on it, while women wore their finest and children ran down the pathways, waving sprinklers around. It was like the village was alive again. It was good to see that everything had returned to normal for these people; well… almost. It would take them time to grief for the dead and wait for the doctors to move out. But at least this was a start. In fact the only person who didn't look happy was Dr Kuro.

"Where have you been?" The crazy doctor demanded to know, her accusing finger just a centre metre from my face that I couldn't help but go cross eyed to look at the bony thing. I didn't appreciate the gesture after what we had all just been through. Dad didn't appreciate her attitude either.

"Let's not do anything stupid now." Kakashi stated in a neutral voice but there was defiantly threat hidden among words that sounded like 'touch my daughter bitch and I'll rip your fucking arm off' or something along those lines anyway. I loved my dad but sometimes he just got a bit over protective with me. But at least Dr Kuro got the message when her hand suddenly disappeared from site, or maybe she knew my dad's reputation well enough not to risk it. The village leader came hobbling up behind her, his frown turned upside down into a smile.

"Nariko-san," the leader bowed so low that I almost stepped forward to steady him but he bolted back up again before I had a chance. "Whatever you did, you saved my people, thank you." His thanks was sweet but I couldn't help but worry that he was rushing ahead. Sure ever since I had gotten rid of those ghosts the patients had magically healed. But it was still too early to be calling it safe. We still had to see what the consequences were from the destruction of the bandit camp. Despite the logical side of me wanting to tell him this, the beam from his face made me restrict myself for now. I just didn't have the heart to ruin it. On the other hand, Dr Kuro did.

"Sir, there's no need to jump to conclusions yet." The woman pointed out, I tried to send her a dark look to get her to shut up but the old hag blanked me. "We have yet to see the full effects of Miss Haruno's… efforts." However, the village leader somehow managed to block everything she had just said out loud. Sometimes, when people were just too happy there was nothing that could bring them down; including Dr Kuro's depressing mood.

Regardless of everything that had just happened, the whole team got dragged into the festivities. I couldn't stop laughing at the boys attempts to join in with the local dances, Nene was still exhausted from nearly having her stomach ripped out, while dad hang around in the shadows reading his naughty book; some things just never change. I was taking my nursing job very seriously as I took care of my friend. Plus it gave me an excuse to stay away from all the crazing dancing. Well, at least for a while. Itachi and Minato came stumbling over to us, the Uchiha leaning forward and latching his lips on to his girlfriend's hungrily. Someone had a little too much to drink.

"Your time to dance now." Minato smiled, his goofy expression slightly off from the drinks he had as well. I gently nudged his hand away, but he held it out again. I looked at Nene to try and get her support but she was a little busy.

"You promise you won't let me fall over." I grinned, knowing full well that even with my terrible dancing skills, he had more of a chance falling over in his condition.

"Promise." He winked, not waiting for me to reject him again as he pulled me to my feet. A mixer of soap, beer and sweat was soaked into his clothes. For some reason I inhaled the scent like cocaine to an addict. Cut it out Nariko! I tried to tell myself but it's not like I could help myself. Every time I was around him I started having crazy thoughts. The music was wide and frantic as we danced along. We didn't know what we were doing half the time so we did our best just moving with the music, hoping we at least looked alright. But it was fun, to spin so fast and allow my body to dance freely. The adrenaline was sensational.

It must have been the early hours of the morning when people decided it was time to go to bed. I don't know where Itachi and Nene had gone but whatever they were doing I hoped they were taking it easy with Nene's injuries. Dad seemed to have disappeared which was a little surprising because he usually hung around me like I was a dog on a leash. Minato didn't seem to really mind that everyone had disappeared.

"Just gives you and me some alone time." Minato joked when I brought the matter up. Drinking had made his words slurred but other than that he seemed to be alright. In response to his comment I nudged him playfully in the ribcage. "Hey! I was just stating the obvious." The shinobi protested. I attempted to stab him in the ribs a second time but this time he was waiting for it and dodged. But somehow his footing got all twisted and he fell on to the ground hard.

"Someone's had a bit too much." I teased. In response, he just puffed out his cheeks, narrowing his eyes are me; he almost looked like a kid having a temper tantrum. "Come on, let's get you back into bed."

"Only if you come with me." He smirked, encircling his arms around me waist and pulling me into his body. I gasped. This would be a really good time to push him away now! I tried to order myself but instead I found myself captivated by his chest moving against mine. Breathing suddenly became harder to control as his hands slipped down the arch of my back. This sensation was so new, I couldn't believe that I was scared and excited at the same time. Somehow, my eyes finally managed to find his. We stayed like that for moment, both trying to figure out if this was just a dream or real. We never got to find out. Slowly, are heads starting leaning closer together.

"What are two doing?" Dad's voice shot out of nowhere. It was like a massive explosive had forced me and Minato apart. Even though we had been caught, we both tried to act innocent; some ninja habits you just can't get rid of.

We stayed in the village for a few more days to make sure nothing changed but no signs of the 'illness' returned. I was glad not to see Dr Kuro anytime soon. But I would miss everyone else, even Arashi with his terrible jokes. Still, it was good to be going home. Regardless of what happened between me and Minato, nothing had change. In fact it seemed like he couldn't remember a thing of what happened. On the other hand, dad was making sure we were never alone for more than five seconds and would never let us work together. I was having mixed feelings of relief, anger and confusion. Not matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the damn scene out of my head. What actually had happened between us? I was too scared to bring up the subject though, despite the fact that I tried to tell myself it was because of dad's constant interferences that I hadn't talked to him. Maybe when we get home everything will turn back tomorrow? I wondered hopefully to myself. But I doubted it. As soon as something weird changes in my life it tends to stay that way.


	14. Clubbing

Living with dad had its ups and downs. For example the man was a master cook (no joke) quite witty so he was a bit of a laugh and it gave us plenty of time to get to know each other despite the sixteen year absence. The bad side effect was that he wanted to monitor my moves twenty-four/ seven. It was impossible to do or say anything that caught his suspicion. Fearing that I might be 'sneaking out' all the time, which was never true; well this one time it was. What I was telling him was the half-truth at least. I was going to sleep over Nene's. We just planned to go partying first. It was a good thing that the stuff I was packing at the moment was for the actual sleepover, if I had to lie about anything, I would have a giant sign over my head glowing with bright neon lights basically screaming 'liar, liar, pants on fire'. Honestly lying was not my strongest point and I was a ninja for crying out loud.

"So, you're just hanging over at Nene's all night." Dad asked, leaning against the door frame with his attention focused on inspecting his nails.

"Probably, we might be going out for a meal with Tenten being away but it's most likely we'll just eat noodles." I shrugged, which was also a half-truth because we had discuss going out for a meal beforehand. Besides, with the party quickly approaching I was beginning to have more doubts on going, so there was a good chance I might chicken out and not go.

"Hm." Was all he said in response, still pretending that his attention was entirely focus on his nails, for Kami sake it does not take half an hour to inspect your nail bed. Coco came in at that moment with his lead attached to his collar and carrying the handle in his mouth. He was getting quiet big now, taking up almost half the bed instead of the tiny crawl spot he used to snuggle into. But he was still a baby to me.

Taking Coco for his walk was a nice break from Dad's surveillance. Despite being a nin-dog, the animal loved doing regular dog stuff, compared to Kakashi's pack, who seemed to work independently on their own. There was also the fact that he was still under a year old and according to Pakkun needed guidance still from his masters. It felt weird playing both dog sitter and owner for the same animal but I liked these normal moments, it almost made me feel ordinary. I took him along the edge of the woods. It was the safest place you could take him without needing to worry about an ambush or students moaning about pee on their training posts. Finding the largest stick around, I hurled it into the overgrowth. The brown blur zoom pass me and disappearing among the woods. I waited for the dog to come back. I waited and waited.

"Coco!" I called out, trying to tell myself that he had just found something interesting to sniff. My anxiety grew as I followed the usual track he had taken just a few minutes before and still no sign of him. I was just able to make out his tracks in the dirt, but they were faint and kept disappearing every time I found a dry patch. Performing a few hand signs, I summoned Wanaka for assistance. The beast's long tail flickered happily to see her mistress after such a long time, licking the side of my cheek with glee. "Find Coco." I ordered, pointing to the last foot tracks I was able to find on the ground. The beast was a bit upset to not be greeted with the same enthusiasm but my thoughts were clouded with worry to even attempt a smile. With one sniff with her snout, the wolf proceeded forward, sniffing the air and the ground as she followed the scent. We were being led deeper into the woods, the trees growing denser as we made our way through. Little sunlight reached the floor, as the crowding trees above fought for their nutrients.

Suddenly, Wakana's fur stood up. Teeth bare, a dangerous growl rumbled through her throat. Taking out my own kunai, I signed my companion to remain silent as we crept through the vegetation, hoping that I wouldn't crack any loose twigs. The last thing I wanted to do was give away the element of surprise. Still, if someone had captured Coco and was using him to lure me away from the village then it wouldn't really be an astonishment to suddenly see me appear.

It probably would have been a better idea to scout ahead in spirit form but felt myself too close to the enemy to risk my body's safety. I continued on cautiously, using my charka to sharpen my senses. The last thing I wanted was someone sneaking up behind me. Wanaka took the lead, making sure to keep track of the trail while I watched both our backs. Moving so slowly made every step felt ten times heavier, the anticipation was killing me but I forced myself to remain calm. Before I knew it we were standing at the edge of an opening, with Coco laying in the middle be pampered by an old woman.

"You!" I cried out. If I hadn't seen weirder stuff I would have probably fainted.

"Took your time getting her dearie." The old woman crackled, scratching Coco between the ears. There were so many questions I wanted to ask. It was also at that moment that my brain decided to overload, twisting my tongue so I found it impossible to utter anything that didn't sound like I was choking on my own tongue. "Settle down child, you act as if you're looking at a ghost… oh wait! You are!" The old lady continued to tease. Ghost? There was no way this woman could be a ghost, I mean I've had ghosts trailing me all my life and have learned how to recongise them.

"Don't give me that look girl." The old woman snapped, the sharpness in her voice almost made me start running for the hills. Who knew someone so tiny could be so terrifying?

"Care to start explaining." Was the first normal sentence I could get out of my mouth, finally finding the courage to speak out. But the woman ignored my request entirely, tapping her thin lips shut.

"Not today dear, I just came to give you this." The woman giggled, tossing the object over. The chain almost slipped through my fingers. I stare at the item in total confusion as the black diamond stared back at me. "I didn't give it to you to stuff in your work locker; it's a family heirloom you know." And with that warning she just vanished.

Five seconds into the club and I already decided that I hated the whole experience. The music was tacky, there was barely any room to move and the dress Nene had forced me to wear was too revealing for my taste. The attention I was getting was making me uncomfortable. On the other hand, Nene didn't seem to notice any of this craziness.

"Look! They're over there!" Nene shouted out over the music, clamping on to me and dragged me through the chaos. "Hey guys!" She waved enthusiastically to them, in an attempt to get their attention. Itachi was the first to see us, making room for both me and his girl.

"You babes look hot." Goro shouted with Akiyo barking in agreement (seriously, how did they get a dog in here?) while Shikaku just continued to look bored. It was great seeing the guys again. Hell I didn't even know they were coming tonight. I thought they were still on their recon mission in the Land of Waves.

Minato was sitting in the very middle, decorated with a hundred different eighteen badges, that ranged from colours and flashing lights, with a dorky party hat on. Even though it had been his eighteenth a few weeks ago now, his friends were determined not to let him miss the humiliation of his celebration. I hate to think what will happen on my eighteenth. Nevertheless, even with the dorky decoration he looked so cute. I dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. Stop thinking like that! I tried to tell myself. Though it was hard to focus my attention anywhere else in this place.

I needed to get some air. The place was so claustrophobic. I wasn't use to being around a lot of people. And having drunk guys grope you every two seconds was a definite no - no for me. Surprisingly the smoking terrace was empty tonight. Then again, the cigarette produce in this village was low because everyone was determined to keep their bodies perfect and healthy.

"Not your sort of thing?" Minato's spoke behind me. His voice was so natural to me now that it didn't spook me when he snuck up behind. Leaning on the rail next to me, we both took a moment for the buzzing to fade.

"I hope you're having a good party, I don't mean to be such a stiff." I smiled at him, knowing full well what was coming next.

"Don't be, honestly, I preferred just going to the pub myself." He reassured her, patting her lightly on the shoulder.

"Well I hope you like your present at least." I cheered, slipping the envelope into his hands. He seemed a bit surprised by it at first but opened it anyway. For a man with large fingers he torn the paper so delicately like he was picking daisies. I forced myself to look away. Don't think like that! I attempted to make my mind blank while I was around him.

"Nariko are you crazy!" Minato cried out staring at the small document within the card.

"Well… you really wanted it." I whispered, unable to look him the eyes.

"But an apartment! No… a penthouse apartment! Sure I liked the view but… you didn't have to get me it."

"It's a birthday present Minato just except it." I persisted, though knowing Minato it would take him at least another two weeks to get him to except it. I suppose I could try to push it along a bit. "Minato you're a really good kind. You're brave, caring and selfless. Just this once don't feel guilty about it." There, that should do it, now it might just take me a week and a half to get him to take the gift.

"Nariko…"

"Guys come on. You're missing all the fun." Goro shouted from the door way, hanging all his weight from the door handle. He was already pissed beyond repair. Staggering over, he grabbed my wrist and began dragging me towards the door. "You still owe me a dance babe!" He slurred. Staring over my shoulder, I gave Minato an apologetic look. But I was shocked to find the sensitive blonde boy giving his friend a dark and menacing look.

Usually I would never dance with Goro. Even as a friend he was still daring enough to try and sneak a grope every now and again. But right now he was spending most of his time trying to remain standing. As a good friend I stayed, hoping that my awkward dancing wasn't making the scene any worse. Still, with everyone shoved together in one building it was hard to think my dancing could be any worse than usual. What I hadn't realised was that one shove, sent you flying into the mist, I felt like I was within a pinball machine. When I was stable again I found myself stuck in the middle of strangers. Some guy had the cheek to slip his arms around me and pinch mu boobs. If I had two seconds more I would have flattened the guy within my own fist. Minato seemed to have beaten me to the punch. If it was any other girl she probably would have swooped at his feet and thanked him. Me? I yanked his ear over to the closets place that was quiet. It just happened to be the coat closet. The room was quite large with only one jacket hanging in the room. Before he could say anything, I slapped him around the face.

"You can't just go around punching people in the face, even if they do touch me, that's my job!" I screamed. "I can handle myself, why did you have to…" I found it impossible to speak another word when his mouth crashed over mine. I wanted so badly to punch him in the face. But I was enjoying his kiss even more. I always wondered what his lips would taste like. I never expected them to be so firm and strong and alcohol. It sounded corny. Nonetheless, his kiss felt so good; even if he was being a drunk idiot.


	15. Drama

Minato didn't hold back. I could feel his hands wrestling with my dress as he tried to grope every inch of me. Breathing seemed to be the least important thing in the world as I tried to keep up. The heat burned in my chest. I couldn't decide if it was the sensation this guy was making me feel or if it was just the lack of oxygen. Finally, we both took a break, our chests continuing to bump into each other as we inhaled oxygen. I couldn't stop looking at his eyes. Somehow they seemed ten times brighter then I had ever seen them.

"You don't know how long I've waited to so that." Minato beamed and before I got a chance to reply his lips were wrapped around mine. Once again I found myself under his spell and was quite happy to go along with it. We were so consumed with each other that not even the inflamed charka sent off any alarm bells off, until it was standing right beside us.

"Get. Off. My. Daughter." The words slipped out of my father throat like he was spitting toxin at them. I pushed Minato behind me; sure the man could hold up against my father, despite his skills I wasn't going to take the chance of my father killing him. Plus, it didn't help he was intoxicated at the moment.

"Dad I can explain…" I tried to be reasonable but dad wasn't haven't any of it.

"A night club Nariko! Honestly, how were you even able to get in? For Christ sake you're only sixteen." The last statement was directed behind me. It was that and the way he was talking to me like an eight year old that set me off.

"How dare you talk to me like I'm an idiot?" I screamed, slapping him hard across the face –for some reason tonight I had an urge to slap a lot of people- he must have been surprised by the blow as his feet wobbled a few steps to handle the kinetic force. "I am old enough to decide to what I want to do! And stalking me during the night, Kami! Talk about control issues." I would bet anyone in the world that a bruise was forming on my father's cheek. The way he lightly touched the side of his mask suggested it was stinging a bit. I sometimes forget how strong I was, mother had the same issue. But I didn't regret that I didn't feel satisfied hitting him (at least for the moment) he deserved it, spying on me like that. The darkness of the night was interrupted when the door to the balcony suddenly opening and the loud buzz of the club echoed across the roof.

"Are you guy's crazy? You're missing the party standing out here." Itachi objected before noticing the rigidity in the atmosphere. "Okay." He slurred, trying to decide whether it was too late to back off. The question in his head was answered when Nene came stumbling through the door. Despite her state she caught onto the situation much faster than Itachi did, must have been women's intuition or something.

"You know what guys it's getting late." Nene offered, slipping her way through the boys and somehow sneaking up behind me. "We should properly head off back to mine now." For a moment, I thought my father would protest going to my friends. In all fairness I was in big trouble; I had been caught sneaking into a club after all. But it was like he had turned into stone. If it hadn't been for the for the flecks of hair waving about I would of believe Medusa herself was standing right behind me. I allowed Nene to direct me away from the area, keeping my eyes concentrated on the grey land.

As soon as we in the safety of Nene's bedroom the woman demanded everything from me. I told her everything, trying not to get too graphic when I arrived at mine and Minato's 'experience' together. The woman was hooked on to it like she was watching a film. Seriously! Where did she get that box of popcorn from?

"I so knew you too would get together." Nene grumbled, though it took me a while to translate everything with the amount of cooked corn in her mouth.

"Sure you did." I answered sarcastically.

"Totally, Minato had been in love with you since he first saw you at the ramen shop." Nene cautiously countered. "He told me himself." That last bit of additional information was enough to send me over the edge. Off the bed of course. At least when my bum hit the ground first it was enough to tell me I wasn't dreaming.

**WHAT THE FUCK!**

"What the fuck!" I repeated, for once in agreement with my inside voice. "You knew this and you're only telling me now!" My best friend'sresponse was a simple shrug of the shoulders. I tried to relive every memory that shared Minato in it. Analysing every word, touch and moment between us, trying to see if there was any hint in his behaviour that would of told me of his feelings. But until recently there had been no hint of desire between us. There had always been a certain connection between us, a type of closeness, maybe… but surely not love?

I couldn't sleep that night knowing how Minato felt (And guilt was starting to settle in after smacking dad around the face). Not to mention Nene in drunk sleep was kind of a clinger (what can I say she's always been a hugger) so the additional weight and heat on my arm wasn't helping much. So when seven o'clock came I was a little out of it. Poor Nene seemed to be suffering the full effects of a hangover, carrying her burden with as much dignity. Well… as much as you could running for the bathroom every couple of minutes. I suppose I could have told her I could ease her suffering for her. But then again, she failed to tell me a boy was in love with me and I'm pretty sure you're meant to tell your best friends that. So I left her too it after she passed out in bed. Besides, I knew I had to face my dad sooner or later.

With a deep breath I opened the front door. It was quiet. Too quiet. Not to sound over dramatic but it really was. Normally, you would hear the sound of the radio in the kitchen or the shuffling of feet or hell even those crazy dogs fighting over a toy. I hoped he wasn't out murdering Minato. Not until I got my hands on him first. Quickly exploring the house, I finally found the answer to the apartment's tranquillity in a note on the Table

_Nariko,_

_The Hokage has sent me on a mission. I am unable to tell you when I'll be back._

_in the mean time, Coco will be staying with you and at the moment is at the vets_

_for a check up until at least 2 o'clock. When I get back we will have the talk._

_Dad_

Talk about bad timing. I mused, as I toss the letter to the side and made myself comfortable on the couch. In all fairness, I had been hoping to get the conversation out of the way. But the more I thought about it, the more I was actually glad he was gone. The last time we spoke hadn't really been friendly. Maybe it was best to let ourselves calm down about before we talked. However, just as I was making myself comfortable the last sentence suddenly haunted my thoughts.

_When I get back we will have the talk._

Ew! I moaned, as realisation smack me in the face. When dad got back I had to have the birds and the bees talk with dad.


End file.
